5 dead as heavy rains lead to floods in Nashik

Five people died, hundreds of families were shifted and thousands remained marooned as unprecedented rains over the past two days caused a deluge in all the rivers in Nashik city and district on Tuesday, with severe damages to life and property.

Some reservoirs in the district were overflowing, while gates of other major dams were opened up to avoid overflowing. The overflowing Nandur Madhmeshwar Dam was spewing out water at a rate of 1,00,000 cusecs, which caused severe flooding in Saikheda, Chandori, Chatori and other surrounding villages that remained cut off. Some brick kiln labourers were marooned in Saikeda.

In Nashik city, water from the Godavari river reached Saraf Bazaar even as shopkeepers removed their wares. The police stopped all bridges in Nashik city from being used and CP S. Jagannathan appealed to citizens to not leave their houses to watch the floods. Water also reached the City Centre mall, built next to the Nasardi river. The Ambad police rescued a 1.5-year-old baby from near the mall.

An unofficial holiday was declared for all educational institutions in the city, while students from Sacred Heart Convent were stranded in their school. Guardian minister Girish Mahajan presided over a high-level meeting to take stock of the situation. “We will see how things stand on Wednesday and decide on schools being reopened,” he said.

Jeweller Kanhaiya Adgaonkar said he had begun removing his stock from dawn onwards, which is when they received the flood alert. “In Nashik, a mahapur or massive flood is indicated when the Naroshankar temple bell and Gadge Maharaj bridge are inundated. Both are under water,” Mr Adgaonkar said.

A couple, Ashok Karate (65) and his wife Sakubai, was washed away in the Waghad reservoir canal near Umrale in Dindori tehsil.

The district witnessed a total of 634.1 mm of rainfall by Tuesday evening, with the highest amount of 89 mm reported from Trimbakeshwar, which is the catchment area of the Gangapur reservoir over the Godavari River.

Thane villages put on alert Seventy-eight villages in Thane and Palghar districts of Maharashtra have been put on alert after two reservoirs supplying water to Mumbai have started overflowing, officials said on Tuesday. The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has alerted the disaster management cells of Thane and Palghar districts about the two reservoirs, Modak Sagar and Tansa, overflowing due to a continuous downpour in the catchment areas, officials said. Assistant engineer of MCGM’s water supplies department, G.B. Chitrawanshi, said the Mumbai civic body has alerted the disaster management cells of both the districts. Accordingly, 78 villagers were put on alert by the cells concerned, officials said.