Maharashtra flood toll zooms to 54, Sangli worst-hit

Pune, Aug 16 (IANS) The death toll in the recent Maharashtra floods has shot up to 54 in the Pune division while another four people are still missing, Pune Divisional Commissioner Deepak Mhaiskar said here on Friday.

The worst-hit is Sangli district accounting for 26 deaths, followed by Kolhapur with 10, Satara 8, Pune 9 and Solapur 1. Two people are still missing in Kolhapur and one each in Sangli and Pune districts.

The torrential rain and the resultant floods have caused huge damage to properties with a staggering 19,702 homes either destroyed or damaged.

While 1169 have been completely razed, another 18,533 homes are partly damaged in Sangli, Kolhapur, Satara and Pune, Mhaiskar said.

Over 713,000 people from 473 villages have been shifted to 245 temporary shelters erected by the district administrations, he added.

In Sangli, 305,957 people from 104 marooned villages have been shifted to safer locations and housed in 64 temporary camps, while in Kolhapur, 407,134 people from 369 submerged villages are housed in 181 camps.

The floods have taken a huge toll of farm animals as well.

As many as 7,847 cattle including cows, bulls and buffaloes have perished in the flood waters.

Rescue work is still underway with 15 teams comprising 323 personnel from various agencies deploying 39 boats in Sangli and Kolhapur as most of the flood waters have drained off.

In order to prevent an outbreak of epidemics, the government has deployed around 478 medical teams in Sangli, Kolhapur and Satara districts.

However, road transportation is still an issue with 10 out of 47 important roads still remaining shut for traffic in Sangli and in Kolhapur. Sixty five roads have been opened out of 88 which were closed during the floods.

Five villages of Shirol in Kolhapur were completely cut-off during the floods, but 20,500 people from there have been rescued.

As per the orders of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the local administration has distributed Rs 5000 to each of 33,775 families, totalling Rs 16.89 crore.

In Sangli, out of 329 ATMs of various banks, 229 are operational, and in Kolhapur out of 647 ATMs, 390 are now functioning. Work is going on to restore the remaining 357 ATMs which are still dead.

Power connections to 297,586 non-agriculture consumers have already been restored and 60 teams of electrical experts from various districts are working to bring normal power supply in the affected regions, said Mhaiskar.