Mumbai — Indian rescue team dug up thick sludge and debris on Monday, finding more than 60 people trapped in a landslide caused by a monsoon heavy rain that has killed more than 160 people in the past four days. rice field.
Maharashtra and Goa in the west, and Karnataka and Telangana in the south are most affected by heavy rains that flood more than thousands of hectares of farmland and move more than 230,000 people to safer places. increase.
The state government said in a statement that in Maharashtra, 149 people were killed and 64 more were missing, mainly in landslides and other monsoon-related accidents.
“We are working hard to save those trapped under the landslide debris of Reigad and Satara, but they are unlikely to be evacuated alive. They are mud for more than three days. “It’s trapped under,” said a senior state government official, referring to two heavily affected districts.
Rescue teams were unable to reach the affected villages quickly because the access roads were blocked by river floods and landslides, officials said.
In Karnataka and Telangana, floods have killed more than 12 people, but the Krishna and Godavari rivers are retreating, officials said.
In Gore, a very popular tourist destination on the west coast, hundreds of homes were damaged as the state recorded the worst floods in nearly 40 years, said state Prime Minister Pramod Swanto.
A senior scientist based in Pune, India Meteorological Department, said the rain had eased on the west coast, which would help rescue operations.
“There will be rainfall on the west coast this week as well, but the intensity will be much lower than last week,” he said.
Authorities evacuated people from vulnerable areas last week as part of India’s west coast experienced up to 594 mm (23 inches) of rainfall in 24 hours, releasing water from dams that could overflow.
By Rajendra Jadhav