Maharashtra rains claim over 129 lives, Army, IAF and coast guard pressed into service as IMD issues red alert for various districts

A total of 15 relief and rescue teams comprising troops from the Aundh Military Station and Bombay Engineer Group based at Pune have been deployed in affected areas. The Indian Army has launched ‘Operation Varsha 21' for flood relief and rescue work in the state.

New Delhi: Incessant rains have thrown normal life out of gear in Maharashtra, claiming the lives of at least 129 people. Several reports of deaths in rain-related incidents, including multiple landslides, have been reported in Maharashtra over the last two days, while over 84,452 people under the Pune division were shifted to safer places on Friday as heavy showers continued to wreak havoc in the state, according to the officials.  "The death toll in Maharashtra in the last 48 hours has reached 129. Most of the deaths are from Raigad and Satara districts," the official said. A flood-like situation has prevailed in parts of Maharashtra’s Kolhapur, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Palghar, Thane, and Nagpur. Besides landslides, many people have been swept away in floodwaters. The death toll in Western Maharashtra's Satara district reached 27, the officials revealed. Additionally, the death toll also includes 38 people who perished in a landslide in a village in the coastal Raigad district's Mahad tehsil on Thursday.