Nagpur: At least 19 people were killed in rain-related incidents in the last 10 days in parts of Vidarbha, including six from Nagpur division, where nearly 4,500 houses were damaged due to heavy rains, officials said on Sunday.
The downpour in the last few days also affected around 54,000 hectares of agricultural land, of which more than 53,000 hectares is located in the Amravati division alone, where 2,796 people – mostly in Yavatmal district – were shifted to safer places, they said.
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Fri18 Oct. 2024
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said the state government was fully alert to tackle issues caused by excessive rains.
In the Nagpur division, Gadchiroli and Bhandara districts witnessed three deaths each, Wardha and Gondia two each and Chandrapur reported one death since July 13, officials said.
The Amravati division recorded five deaths on a single day on July 21 with Yavatmal topping the list with three fatalities, followed by Akola and Buldhana which recorded one death each. On July 22, three persons died in Amravati district after being swept away in flood waters.
Eleven districts in Vidarbha are part of two divisions – Amravati and Nagpur. The Nagpur division comprises Nagpur, Gondia, Bhandara, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli and Wardha districts, while the Amravati division consists of Amravati, Akola, Yavatmal, Washim and Buldhana.
Heavy rains have been lashing parts of Vidarbha since the past few days.
In the 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am on Sunday, Akola recorded 107.9 mm rainfall, followed by Yavatmal-24.0 mm, Wardha-23.4 mm, Amravati- 15.6 mm, Nagpur-6.7 mm, Gadchiroli-3.0 mm, Gondia-2.2 mm, Brahmpuri (in Chandrapur)-2.4 mm and Buldhana-2.0 mm, as per the Regional Meteorological Centre in Nagpur.
Rains affected 875.84 hectares of agricultural land in parts of the Nagpur division, including 853.74 hectares in Chandrapur and 22.1 hectares in Wardha, a preliminary report issued by authorities said. More than 1,600 houses were damaged in this division, they said.
Speaking to reporters at Nagpur Airport, Deputy CM Fadnavis said some parts of the state had received average rainfall of 15 to 20 days in a matter of just two to three days.
Weather alerts are being given to the administration of areas where heavy rainfall is expected and teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and their state counterpart SDRF were being quickly deployed as and when required, he said.
