At least 127 people have been killed in floods and landslides caused by heavy rains in India, according to authorities, with rescuers still searching for dozens of missing persons.
Torrential rains have been sweeping the country’s west coast since Thursday, and India’s meteorological services are warning of new heavy rains in the coming days.
In the state of Maharashtra, 117 people have lost their lives, more than 40 of them in a landslide that struck on Thursday in the village of Talige, south of Mumbai.
“Many people were swept away by the water while trying to escape” to escape when the landslide occurred, told the French Agency a resident of the village, Jairam Mahaske, whose relatives remain trapped.
Another resident, Govid Malousare, described the body of his nephew as being found in the rubble of his house, which was leveled by the landslide. But his mother, brother and sister-in-law are still missing.
Precipitation record
THE landslide lured dozens of homes in minutes. Only two concrete buildings survived. According to residents, the area has no electricity, while access has been blocked to supply food to those affected. Rescuers are combing the mud and debris in search of another 99 missing.
“My whole team is assisting the rescue operations,” Rajes Yaouale, inspector of the National Disaster Response Force, the special team that coordinates rescue operations in the village, told AFP yesterday, according to the Athens News Agency.
At the same time, in some districts of the city of Chiplun, in the south of Mumbai, the water level reached six meters on Thursday, after a 24-hour continuous rainfall, which resulted in flooding of roads and houses.
The prime minister of the neighboring state of Goa Pramont Sawad spoke of “the worst floods since 1982”.
In the coastal areas of Maharashtra and Goa, water levels remain high after rivers overflowed. Terrified residents climbed to the roofs of the houses to escape.
Floods and landslides are common in India during the monsoon season (June-September). However, experts estimate that due to climate change, the rains are more and more intense.
Climatologist Roxy Matthew Cole, who works at India’s Institute of Tropical Meteorology, explained that one consequence of major climate change is rising temperatures in the Arabian Sea.
He noted that a weather station in Mahabhalswara, south of Mumbai, recorded 594 millimeters of rain on Friday, a record since data began a century ago.
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