ONE person died in a lightning strike, while 48 people were rescued from inundated areas as heavy rains battered several places in Maharashtra, including Mumbai, on Monday, the office of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said. “Pune, Satara, Solapur, Raigad, Mumbai and MMR (Mumbai Metropolitan Region) have received heavy rainfall. Daund received 117 mm of rain in 24 hours, Baramati 104.75 mm, while 63.25 mm was recorded in Indapur,” the statement said. It said 25 houses partially collapsed in Baramati, while seven persons trapped in flooded areas were rescued. “70 to 80 families have been shifted to safer places.

 

Mobile services that were disrupted yesterday are now being restored,” the CM’s Office said. Two persons were rescued from an inundated spot in Indapur in Pune district. A team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been deployed in Phaltan in Satara district, which received 163.5 mm of rain. “Thirty citizens were stranded near Dudhebavi village. They have been provided with accommodation and food facilities,” it said. In Solapur, which received 67.75 mm of rain in 24 hours, six citizens were trapped in floods in Malshiras taluka, the CMO said. They have been shifted to a safer place. Efforts are underway to rescue three people trapped in the Bhima river bed in Pandharpur, it said.

 

One person died after being struck by lightning in Raigad district, while the Mahad to Raigad Fort road has been closed due to heavy rains. In Mumbai, 135.4 mm of rainfall was recorded in the past 24 hours. The city received complaints of waterlogging in six locations, 18 incidents of short circuits, and five complaints of wall collapses. No injuries have been reported in the city so far, the CM’s office said. Municipal authorities, the fire brigade, Mumbai police, and other emergency services are on standby, while five NDRF teams have been stationed across the city for any emergency response, it said. Immediate surveys have been ordered in affected areas, said the statement, adding that CM Fadnavis has been in constant touch with the chief secretary and the State Disaster Management Unit.

 

Monsoon barrels into Mumbai, earliest since 1950, says IMD: THE South-West monsoon has set in over Mumbai 16 days before the usual date, making it the earliest since 1950, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Monday. The primary rain-bearing system reached Kerala on Saturday, marking its earliest arrival over the Indian mainland since 2009, when it reached the southern State on May 23. The Southwest monsoon usually makes its onset over Kerala by June 1, reaches Mumbai by June 11 and covers the entire country by July 8. It starts retreating from northwest India around September 17 and withdraws completely by October 15.