Pune Landslide: At least 15 feared dead; over 150 trapped under debris

Pune, July 30: In a natural disaster, at least 15 people are feared dead at the Ambe village in Pune on Wednesday.

According to TV reports, over 150 people are trapped under debris.

Pune District Magistrate told a news channel that at least 45 houses have been buried in the landslide.

Two National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams comprising of 80 members have rushed to the Ambe village landslide site to carry out the rescue operations.

DM also said that there is fear of more landlslides in the nearby villages.

The Ambe village is said to be a remote one with poor connectivity.

According to District Collector Saurav Rao, the administration has mobilised rescue machinery to pull out those trapped.

"Exact number of causalities is not known as we are moving slowly to ensure that those trapped are removed safely. About 30 ambulances have been rushed from adjoining areas to extend medical help to the victims," he said, adding earth moving equipment from government and private parties were being pressed into service.

Communication difficulties and rains were affecting the operations, he said.

Meanwhile, nearly 50 villages in the Thane district were cut-off from the tehsil headquarters and two bridges remained submerged as heavy rains continued to lash on Wednesday.

Around 150 villages along the Surya river in Palghar taluka have been put on alert this morning for discharge of water from a dam in the river. Villages along Surya river banks have been alerted as 4,500 cusec water will be discharged in the river from Damani dam today, Palghar tehsildar Chandrasen Pawar said.

Surya river is swelling and over 150 villages along its banks have lost contact with the outside world, a disaster control room official said. In Murbad taluka, Kapri bridge has also submerged and more than 40 villages around it are cut-off from the taluka headquarters, he said.

Traffic has been thrown out of gear on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway as the Maswan bridge in Palghar is completely submerged, the official said. Also, the roads leading to Kasara Ghat (on way to Nashik) and Malshej Ghat (on way to Ahmednagar) have been closed after boulders fell on them this morning, he added.

A drain wall of about 60 ft collapsed today near Vishwakarma society at Sawarkar Nagar in Thane city, civic body's Regional Disaster Management Cell officer Santosh Kadam said.

OneIndia News