Parts of Kolhapur marooned

Parts of Kolhapur, the city of Panchganga river basin, was marooned under water as heavy rain continued on Wednesday.

A team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) from Pune was rushed to aid the civil administration here in case any major rescue operation needs to be launched.

Over Monday and Tuesday, the three Western Maharashtra districts of Kolhapur, Sangli and Satara and the adjoining twin Konkan coast districts of Ratnagiri and Raigad received heavy rainfall resulting in inundation of several areas in the city.

While the streams and rivers flowed with full force, sluice gates of dams were opened.

On Wednesday evening, there were reports that the situation has eased out a bit. In the last two days, the five districts received 100 to 150 mm rainfall.

Traffic on Kolhapur-Mumbai and Kolhapur-Goa road was affected as water had accumulated near the main toll plaza because of the overflowing Panchganga river. Kolhapur city and Radhanagri talukwere among the worst affected. The NDRF team from Pune reached here with 40 personnel and six boats.

The Koyna-Mahabaleshwar belt of Satara district received close to 200 mm rainfall in the last two days, leading to an increase in water level in the Koyna dam. Miraj in Sangli district too received heavy rainfall.

According to the IMD, rain in the coastal Konkan region and Madhya Maharashtra would continue. The weatherman has asked fishermen not to venture into the Arabian Sea for the next 24 hours.

A report from Chandrapur from Vidarbha said that the gates of the Irai dam had to be opened because of heavy rainfall.

According to   skymetweather.com, the entire west coast, excluding north Konkan and Goa, has been experiencing moderate rain at many places along with a few heavy spells at some places. However, north Konkan and Goa is witnessing subdued monsoon rains.

“The offshore trough is now seen only from Goa to north Kerala. This would result in subdued or light rain over north Konkan and Goa and south Kerala. This off shore trough is once again likely to get activated by July 16 or July 17 resulting in increased rainfall over the entire west coast from Konkan and Goa to Kerala,” it said.