Six people were killed and 18 are still missing after Tiware Dam breached due to heavy rainfall in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district late Tuesday night. The breach of the dam occurred at around 9.30 pm last night. Due to this, at least seven down-stream villages, which include Akle, Riktoli, Ovali, Kalkavne, and Nandivase, have been flooded and at least 12 houses and 20 vehicles near the dam have been washed away.
Maharashtra Tiware Dam Breach Updates
As per the information given by the Ratnagiri police, the Tiware dam on a rivulet in Chiplun had started developing cracks after Tuesday evening. Before villagers downstream could be alerted, the dam developed a rupture flooding the villages and hamlets within minutes.
According to the reports, the 19-year-old dam had shown signs of leakage. According to the locals, District authorities had been informed so many times but no repairs were carried out.
A team of 5 BN NDRF and Pune’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team has been sent to Tiware dam for rescue operation at the spot, which is approximately 275 kilometers from Mumbai. Apart from them, additional rescue teams consisting of government officials, police and volunteers are also working at the site.
Alok Awasthy, NDRF spokesman said, “Using drones, we have located six dead bodies and over 18 people are still missing. We have deployed two teams after the Tiware dam breach occurred last night and are looking for survivors.”
According to the report, Shiv Sena MP from Chiplun, Vinayak Raut, confirmed of shocking negligence that possibly led to the eventual breach in the dam. The Sena MP stated that locals had previously alerted him of cracks and leakage in the Tewari dam for which he had raised the issue with concerned authorities. However, he claimed that no action was taken by government officials.
Former union minister Suresh Prabhu tweeted his condolences today morning and said he had “asked all our karyakartas & NGOs to offer all help to (families of) victims. The opposition party in the state, the Congress, tweeted: “We pray the missing individuals are found immediately & have a speedy recovery.”
As incessant rainfall lashed several parts of Maharashtra on Tuesday and at least 39 people were killed across the state in separate rain-related incidents. Mumbai recorded the heaviest rainfall since July 2005, which brought the Maximum City to a standstill as public transport was severely affected.
In view of the IMD forecast of heavy rainfall on Tuesday, the Maharashtra government declared a public holiday for schools, colleges, and officials in the city on Tuesday, with the Education Department announcing that all examinations scheduled for Tuesday were postponed.
Mumbai airport shut its main runway late Monday night after a SpiceJet flight carrying 167 people overshot its landing and got stuck at the end of the strip. A secondary runway was pressed into service but over 200 flights have been delayed or diverted. The main runway is not likely to be operational before Thursday.
Western Railway tweeted today morning that suburban services are running normally. However, Central Railway has notified passengers of delays and short termination of certain services.
The Meteorological Department has warned of “extremely heavy” rainfall in Thane and Palghar on July 4 and 5. According to the private weather agency Skymet, Mumbai is at “serious risk of flooding” between July 3 and 5. Close to 200 mm or more rain per day is likely during this period, which could hamper normal life.
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