10,500 evacuated from Thane, Palghar; all talukas flooded

Coupled with high tide and rivers in spate, the two districts saw flooding in every taluka. Teams of NDRF, Navy and Army had to be deployed as several rescue operations took place simultaneously in the two districts. Only one casualty was reported after a man went missing near a reservoir in Virar.

“Thane city and Kalyan received over 300 mm of rainfall. This itself led to more water coming in than going out. The rain didn’t stop at the time of high tide as well. Moreover, water was also released from the dams,” said an official from Thane collector’s office.

Of the people evacuated, more than 8,500 were from Thane taluka only, the collector’s office said.

“The biggest evacuation was conducted in Jugaon. We have also evacuated 1,100 people from Kalyan with the help of two NDRF and three Navy teams. Two Army teams were deployed in Shahad and Shahapur,” said Collector Rajesh Narvekar. Several individuals and groups were also involved in rescue operations across Kalyan, Dombivali, Ulhasnagar, Ambernath, Badlapur and Titwala. In Titwala, two fishermen, Yogesh and Sunil Patil, rescued over 120 people.

Several areas like Shahad, Ambivali and Jagtap, which usually remain dry, also faced waterlogging. The residents of Shahad made distress calls after water rose to the second floor in some low-lying areas.

“We were staying at a shelter. As water started entering the shelter, we have now moved to a school… even our phone charger has been washed away,” said Sonia Kalra, a resident who was rescued by an NGO. Houses that were affected a few days ago after Ulhas river overflowed, again flooded. “Some people in Siddhi Vinayak society had returned home. We evacuated them and asked them to not return until the water subsided,” said an official.

Activist Satyajit Burman said, “The dams released a lot of water and the rivers are already full. As there is no buffer zone near the rivers, the water has flooded houses. Even in urban areas farther from the river, the drains have been overflowing as they connect to rivers or creeks, leading to flooding…”

When Barvi dam started overflowing on Sunday evening, Modak Sagar dam had already released 1.10 lakh cusec water in Vaitarna river.

While 45,000 cusec was released from Kavdas dam, Dhamani released 23,000 cusec and Tansa 42,000 cusec.

Urban areas like Thane and Boisar also saw life coming to a standstill after the drains started throwing water on the roads. “Our society compound was completely flooded and there was three feet of water in our house,” said Sukhada Datar, a resident of a housing society in Jambhli naka. In Boisar, roads were flooded, as water entered factories and houses.

In Palghar, Pinjal river overflowed on to the roads, breaking vehicular connections between Palghar and Jawhar, Mokhada, Vikramgadh and Wada tehsils.

“The bridge between Wada and Palghar was broken… Several villages have gone underwater,” said an official from Palghar collector’s office. The Palghar administration called in the NDRF to rescue 140 people from Mori village.

“The villages have become inaccessible by roads… While NDRF teams helped in three to four rescue operations, the rest were all conducted by our local response force,” said Palghar Collector Kailash Shinde.

In Vasai-Virar, 350 mm of rainfall was recorded in Pelhar and 227 mm in Navghar in 24 hours ending 8.30 pm on Sunday.

“Not only did we evacuate people in the municipal region but also carried out operations in rural areas. We evacuated people from Mithagar, Nallasopara bus stand, and low lying regions of Vasai and Virar. The water has started to recede,” said Baliram Pawar, Vasai Virar city Municipal commissioner.

In both districts, water and electric supply were badly hit with several regions going without power for over 24 hours.

“The feeders have submerged in several regions, cutting off supply. In some places, we have switched off power supply for safety purposes. We are working on restoring power, but for that water will have to recede. All feeders in Palghar were switched back on by 9 pm on Sunday,” MSEDCL spokesperson Vishwajeet Bhosale said.

Water supply has also been suspended after the pumping station was flooded in Dombivali, sources said.

The state government has sought six more teams of the NDRF to help out in rescue
operations.