Torrential monsoon showers lashed Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra crippling normal life and claiming 15 lives even as flood situation worsened in Andhra Pradesh, raising the death toll to 62.
Five people were killed in a wall collapse at Nanded district in Marathwada region in Maharashtra on Sunday and 10 died in western Vidharbha region in different rain-related
incidents, officials said.
Over 10,000 people were shifted to safer places after Godavari river crossed the danger mark at several places in the district, they said.
In Mumbai, heavy rains for the third consecutive day flooded streets and crippled rail and road traffic in the metropolis.
Commuter train services on Central and Harbour lines route were disrupted due to water logging on track, officials said.
On the Western line, trains were running 15 minutes behind schedule, they said.
Water logging was reported at the Airport colony in Kalina area, which was the worst-affected in July 2005 deluge.
The entire Western Vidarbha region has been flooded due to heavy rains.
Authorities have requisitioned the services of two helicopters to evacuate people in three villages in Satpalli, Dhanora and Kharuj in the region, officials said.
In Yavatmal district in Vidarbha, river Painganga was in spate in Chinchorisangam village and about 1,300 people were stranded.
A bus with 25 passengers was stuck in floodwaters in Buldhana district.
In Chandrapur district, rainwater entered some houses in Vadagaon and Kawathi. Road traffic in the district was disrupted, officials said.
People living along the banks of river Godavari have been alerted after the irrigation department released 11,610 cusecs (cubic feet per second) of water from the Gangapur dam.
In Akola district in Western Vidharba region, seven villages were inundated and efforts were being made to move the people to safer places.
Several villages along the national highway connecting Kolkata were cut off from the district, officials said.
In Andhra Pradesh, flood situation in Bhadrachalam town was grim as Godavari river was in spate.
The authorities shifted about 14,000 families to relief camps set up near the temple town, revenue officials said.
The rains, triggered by deep depression in Bay of Bengal, played havoc in the north coastal districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam, while other districts in
coastal and Telengana regions experienced heavy rains leaving a trail of destruction and death behind, they said.
The death toll in the state for the past three days rose to 62.
Visakhapatnam accounted for the maximum number of deaths (14), followed by Vizianagaram (11), Khammam (8), East Godavari (6), Nizamabad and Warangal four each, while three deaths were reported from Srikakulam.
One death was registered in West Godavari, Adilabad, Karimnagar, Guntur and Nalgonda districts while Krishna and Medak districts accounted for two deaths each, officials said.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy made an aerial survey of the affected districts.
Several trains, buses and flights were cancelled with breaches on roads and floodwaters entering tracks and Visakhapatnam airport being inundated.
Godavari and its tributaries were overflowing and people from low-lying areas of Khammam, Adilabad, Nizamabad and East and West Godavari districts were shifted to safer places, an official said.
Relief operations were on full swing in Khammam district, which is facing nature's fury. Two Navy boats from Visakhaptanam, 16 helicopters and an even numbers of small mechanised boats were deployed to evacuate people of low-lying areas, the official said.
