At least 36 people have died from landslides caused by monsoon rains in western India, and dozens more are missing, a local official said on Friday (July 23).
According to him, three landslides occurred Thursday in the district of Raigad, in the state of Maharashtra, whose capital is Bombay. “At least 35 to 40 people are trapped. We are trying to rescue them ”, he said, adding that “36 people perished after three landslides yesterday”.
The Navy and Air Force are working together to help thousands of people affected by flooding. But the relief operations are complicated by the extent of the damage, in particular by these landslides, which cut several roads, in particular the highway between Bombay and Goa.
More than twenty-four hours of uninterrupted intense rainfall brought the Vashishti River out of its bed. Neighborhoods in the locality of Chiplun, 250 kilometers from Bombay, were drowned under 3.5 m of water.
In Bombay, the commercial capital of India, at least 34 people were killed last weekend by a collapsed wall, due to a landslide triggered by heavy monsoon rains.
Building collapses are common in India during the monsoon season, between June and September, with old and shaky structures giving way after days of uninterrupted rain.