Rescue Team, Chopper, Boats Deployed In Maharashtra's Latur After Heavy Rain

An NDRF team, a helicopter and boats were deployed on Tuesday to rescue people stranded in barrages, villages and on the banks of a river in Latur in Maharashtra as heavy rains lashed the district through the day.

While 25 out of 40 people stranded on the banks of Manjara river at Sarsa village have been rescued using boats, efforts were on to get the rest 15 to safety, an official said.

He added that three people stranded on a river basin in Digol Deshmukh area in Renapur tehsil have been rescued.

Three employees of the state Irrigation Department were stuck in the Ghansargaon village barrage, and a National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team as well as a helicopter have been brought in help local personnel with the rescue effort, said District Disaster Management Officer Sakeb Usmani.

Officials said six out 10 tehsils and 30 out of 60 revenue mandals in Latur have received heavy rains, leading to flooding of streams and rivulets, resulting in authorities having to release 70,845.30 cusecs (cubic foot per second) of water into Manjara river after opening 18 gates of a dam in Dhanegaon in Keh tehsil.

Latur district has received 66.09 millimetres of rainfall in the last 24 hours, with the downpour being particularly severe, along with thunderstorms, in Latur, Udgir, Ahmedpur, Chakur, Jalkoat and Ausa tehsils, leaving many villages disconnected, officials said.

Several of these revenue mandals have received over 65 mm of rainfall during this period, they said, adding that total rainfall in Latur district this monsoon has now touched 906 mm, which is almost 109 per cent of the annual average.

Tandulja and Murud revenue mandals received the highest, 127.8 mm, rainfall, followed by 103 mm in Tondar and 101.3 in Chakur, they added.

The India Meteorological Department has warned of heavy rains over the next two days as well.