Floods Leave Trail Of Destruction In Maharashtra's Konkan Towns

Maharashtra government said that 76 people have died and 30 have gone missing in the flood-hit parts of the state.

When heavy rains started pounding Chiplun town in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district on July 21, little did Pragati Rane, who runs a small coaching centre there, think that things could escalate to the level that she, her family and others would have to scale the sloped roofs of their houses and sit there precariously through the night amid the downpour, clinging on to hope. Although their nightmare ended after the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rescued them hours later, an uphill task of rebuilding their own lives now awaits Ms Rane and scores others like her. Chiplun, Khed and several other towns in Ratnagiri and parts of neighbouring Raigad bore the brunt of the torrential rain and the subsequent floods over the last few days, with several rivers in the region flowing above the danger mark. Although the water level has receded to a large extent in most of the affected parts, the floods have left a trail of large scale damage - from sludge and heaps of mud in the houses and roads to loss of loved ones. "It was raining heavily on 21 July. But I thought that the water level will rise for a few hours and then recede. However, due to the incessant downpour, the water level suddenly rose during the night and we all had to leave everything behind and reach the sloped clay-tiled roof of the house," Ms Rane said.