Mumbai deluge claims five lives, dozen missing

Mumbai, Aug 30 (IANS) At least five persons lost their lives in different rain-related incidents during Tuesday's deluge when Mumbai was virtually paralyzed, officials said here on Wednesday.

According to the BMC Disaster Control, a two-year-old girl, Kalyani Gopal Jangam, was crushed under a wall which crashed during heavy rains in Jankalyan Nagar in Vikhroli East.

Her parents, Gopal Jangam and Chhaya, were injured in the incident and admitted to the Mahatma Phule Hospital.

In another incident in Vikhroli's Suryanagar, two persons were killed when a portion of a house collapsed following the torrential rains.

An 18-month-old infant, Nikhil Satyendra, and a 40-year-old man, Suresh A. Maurya, succumbed during treatment at Rajawadi Hospital in adjoining Ghatkopar suburb.

In Ghatkopar's Ambedkar Nagar, Rameshwar Tiwari, 45, was killed while his wife Manju and their minor children Krishna and Ronak were injured when a wall of their home crashed on them.

A dozen people, mainly senior citizens, are reportedly missing in different parts of Mumbai though many are suspected as 'lost' or temporarily not able to communicate.

Their anxious relatives have sent social media messages with pictures seeking information on their near-and-dear ones while making police complaints.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast "heavy to very heavy rains" in entire coastal Konkan region of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, on Wednesday.

Similar wet conditions shall prevail in the Konkan districts of Palghar, Thane, Mumbai, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg over the next 48-72 hours.

Besides Konkan, heavy rains are expected in central Maharashtra and Marathwada region, in neighbouring Goa and Gujarat's Kutchh and Saurashtra regions starting from Wednesday till Sunday, according to IMD.