Rains claim 17 lives in Marathwada: AP death toll rises to 51

New Delhi, Aug 6 (UNI) Heavy rains claimed 17 lives in Marathwada in central Maharashtra in the last 24 hours, the death toll in rain related incidents rose to 51 in Andhra Pradesh, the Kashmir Valley remained cut off from the rest of the country and torrential rains paralysed train services in Mumbai.

Incessant rains have also claimed 15 lives in Vidarbha, as rivers, reservoirs and dams are overflowing affecting nomal life.

In Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh, the flood situation worsened with the Penganga and Pranahita rivers submerging more areas.

As many as 200 villages were marooned. Traffic on the National Highway 7 (NH-7) came to a standstill for a day and hundreds of vehicles were being stranded on either side of the flooded road.

Due to the discharge of water from Godavari from the upper riparian state of Maharashtra, the Sri Ram Sagar Project was receiving heavy inflows. All the 42 crest gates of the project were raised, releasing 2.5 lakh cusecs of water.

Godavari water level at Bhadrachalam reached 66 feet against the danger level of 53 feet at which the last danger signal is generally hoisted.

In Khammam district around three lakh people were affected due to the floods. Twelve boats and two helicopters were pressed into relief works. The district collector said two more helicopters were also in service from the Eastern Naval Command.

Reports from Vidarbha said 7 people were killed in a house collapse in Akola, 4 persons were washed away in flood waters in Wardha and Gondia districts, one each in Chandarpur and Washim, while one woman and a man were killed in two separate cases of house collapse at Buldana and at Jimalgattha village, in Gadchiroli districts.

In Yavatmal district, about 60 persons who were trapped in flood waters at Anantwadi in Mahagaon taluka were rescued. Yavatmal was the most badly affected district in Vidarbha where all the rivers and reserviors were flowing above the danger mark. A number of houses have collapsed and the national and state highways leading to the district were blocked due to flooding waters. Communications in more than ten villages were snapped in the district, reports disclosed.

The administration has swung into action, rushing relief to the affected people as water entered lowlying areas and roads remained inundated in several villages. People residing in lowlying areas were shifted to safer places in Wardha, Buldana, Akola and Yavatmal.

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