30,182 people evacuated in Kolhapur flood; 18 killed so far

kolhapur, Aug 12 (UNI) A total 8,563 flood-affected people have been evacuated and shifted to safer places in the last 24 hours, taking up the number of shifted people to 30,182 in a fortnight, in Kolhapur district.

Also, 18 people in the district lost their lives while two still remain missing. The authorities have also set up 19 make-shift cattle sheds for the protection of animals, where 6,102 cattles are presently kept.

Maharashtra Government has opened 81 relief camps in the district in which 12,459 people have been shifted till date, including at least 5,000 in the last 24 hours, Resident District Collector (RDC) Milind Pathak told UNI today.

A total of 107 villages have been affected in flood waters, while 19 of them got marooned, in which Khidrapur, Rajapur, Bustwad and Rajapurwadi in the worst-affected Shirol tehsil remained in that state for about two weeks. Rescue and relief operations are still continuing there, Mr Pathak said.

Besides, 40 houses were totally damaged while 2,010 suffered partial damage.

Road connectivity on various routes still remains affected. Even the Kolhapur-Ratnagiri national highway connecting to Kolhapur region is still submerged under water. However, vehicular traffic has been diverted to other long routes and even the State Transport bus services on Kolhapur-Radhanagari and Kolhapur-Gaganbavada routes, which connect to Konkan are not yet normal, the RDC said.

The flood situation still remains grim as the Panchaganga river was flowing at a height of 45.9 ft, still above the danger mark of 45 ft at the Rajaram weir, he said and expressed hope that till tomorrow the situation should improve.

Meanwhile, the district recorded a total 23,489 mm rainfall so far, with an average 1,957.4 mm downpour from June one till date, in which Gaganbavada tehsil recorded the highest 4,783 mm rainfall, Mr Pathak added.

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