NEARLY 6,000 passengers were stranded as train services on the Konkan Railway route in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district were suspended on Thursday after a river overflowed following heavy rains in the area, officials said. So far, nine trains have been regulated due to disruption of services on the route, they said. Regulating trains means they have been either rerouted, short-terminated or cancelled. Konkan Railway officals said these trains were at safe locations on different stations and the passengers in them were also safe and they were being provided food and water. Water level at the Vashishti river bridge between Chiplun and Kamathe stations in Ratnagiri has risen above the danger mark after the heavy downpour, an official said.

 

“In view of the safety of passengers, train services in this section are suspended temporarily,” he said. Meanwhile, three drown as rivers swell amid heavy rains in Raigad. A Five-year-old girl and two others drowned in rivers, which swelled due to heavy rains in Maharashtra’s Raigad district, flooding several towns, an official said on Thursday. Kundalika and Savitri rivers crossed the danger mark, flooding several areas in Roha and Mahad respectively, while water from Ulhas river entered Karjat city in the morning hours, the official said. According to district authorities, a 50-year-old man drowned in Savitri river in Mahad town, while a 40-year-old man and his daughter were swept away in Ulhas river in Karjat taluka. Sanjay Narkhede was fished out from Savitri river and was rushed to a hospital, where he was declared dead, he said, adding that Ibrahim Maniyar and his daughter Zoya of Damad village drowned in Ulhas, and a search is underway for them.

 

The Raigad Collector issued a warning to people living near rivers, creeks and along the coast, the official said, adding that 53 families were evacuated from their homes in Sidharthnagar and Pradnyanagar of Khopoli and shifted to a safe place, he said. Similarly, residents of Jamruganga Boudhwadi and Bidhkurdha villages in Khalapur taluka were shifted to a Zilla Parishad school, he added. Rains also caused a landslide at Warvanda village in Bhor-Mahad Road, and vehicular traffic on Varandha ghat was disrupted, the official said. As per the data released by the Collector’s office, Raigad had recorded 165 mm rain in 24 hours till 8.30 am. The highest rainfall of 331.40 mm was recorded at Matheran, while Murud recorded the lowest at 43 mm. The rainfall recorded up to Thursday morning is 70.39 per cent of the average yearly rain in the district. The MeT has forecast ‘extremely’ heavy rainfall in Konkan and Goa regions to continue in isolated order as well as along the Western Ghats of Madhya Maharashtra and coastal Karnataka on Thursday. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast fairly widespread precipitation over several areas across west, and north till the weekend ends.

 

There will be “isolated heavy falls very likely over Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand on July 22 and 23. This is likely to increase to isolated heavy to very heavy falls on July 25 and 26 over these areas”, the IMD said in a release. Scattered to fairly widespread rainfall with isolated heavy falls likely to continue over Gujarat till July 23 with increase from 24, it said. “It is likely to increase to fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls on July 25 and 26”. There will be an increase in rainfall activity over northeast India likely on July 26 with fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls over these areas, IMD said.