Kolhapur and Sangli floods: Toll rises to 27 as rescue boat capsizes

He said the private boat, arranged by the gram panchayat, was evacuating the persons to safe locations after the Bramhnal village got flooded. “The initial reports say that the boat was overcrowded. It had 35 people on board though it had the capacity to carry only 20 people. The bodies of nine persons have been recovered while five more are learnt to be missing,” said Mhaisekar.

Kolhapur and Sangli remain cut-off from the remaining state. And it is only now that the real extent of the damage is becoming evident.
For Navnath Hande, a farmer from a village in Walva taluka of Sangli, the wait to see the condition of his house has been painful. “We were moved to a school as the water level started rising and now I can’t go back to my village, as the road is completely submerged. I can’t tell you what I am going through thinking about my inundated house. We have lived there for three generations,” says Hande as he waits for water levels to recede on the way to Walva.

On the third consecutive day, the Mumbai-Bangalore National Highway remained closed between Karad and Kolhapur as waters of Panchganga river flooded the road. The intense flow of the water gushing over the highway forced police to stop people and vehicles at least 100 metres away from the flow. “The water level can increase suddenly. Our challenge is to stop people who come to the spot to see the flood and click photos,” said a police officer posted at Sangli Phata Bridge in Kolhapur.

In a coordinated effort of the local police and State Highway Patrol, at least 6,000 trucks were stopped on the Highway service roads or single lanes at various spots and not allowed to go across Kolhapur.

Rajesh Singh, the driver of a truck carrying building machinery from Mumbai to Bangalore, said, “We have been told by police that it will take at least three more days for the flood to recede in Kolhapur and the road to clear.” Police officials said that once the flood water recedes, an inspection of the road and bridges will be done by the Public Works Department Officials and after their nod on safety, the road will be opened for traffic.

According to district officials, drinking water, milk and petrol supply was a problem in some parts of the affected districts. Cell communication in some areas was affected due power cuts for over three days. Teams of the National Disaster Response Force, Indian Army and Navy continued evacuating people to safer locations in boats in coordination with the local administration. In addition to Army deployment on Wednesday, a Para Special Force team and a Special Engineer Task Force of Army were also pressed into action on Thursday for enhanced efforts, Army officials said.

“Other than physical challenges, which we are trained for, it is really a daunting task to console the affected people who are in a state of shock. The flood does have an adverse impact on people. Our medical teams also help with these anxieties, along with catering to the medical needs,” said an Army officer who is part of the rescue operation.

The commandant of the 5th Battalion of the NDRF, Anupam Shrivastava, said a total of 28 teams of the NDRF had been deployed in western Maharashtra. “Of these, 23 are in Sangli, Satara and Kolhapur. Three more teams are being flown in and will be deployed in the three districts. Ours teams are working with Army, Navy and local teams,” he said. Another Army officer, who is part of the rescue efforts, said, “Army columns were ready from at least a week. Looking at the situation here, we feel that the district administration should have requisitioned Army support at least 24 hours earlier. More men and equipment could have reached and we would have been even better prepared.”

As on Thursday, the Army has deployed 16 Columns, 14 Engineer Task Forces including a Para Special Force team for ongoing flood relief and rescue operations in Kolhapur, Sangli and Raigad districts of Maharashtra and Bagalkot, Raichur, Belgaum and Kodagu districts of Karnataka. Additional troops have also been requisitioned for carrying out flood relief operations in Gulbarga in North Karnataka and Wayanad district of Kerala. A Special Engineer Task Force is being air lifted from Jodhpur to Belgaum for further enhancement of the ongoing rescue operations, said Army officials.

“A total of around 3,500 persons have been rescued and 10,000 persons have been evacuated from marooned areas, provided medical aid and given food packets,” read a press statement from the Army.

Five rescue teams airlifted by an IAF aircraft, plus five Navy teams already in the region, continued their rescued efforts. In addition, four more teams were mobilised from Goa Naval Area by naval Dornier aircraft and ALH helicopters reached Kolhapur late on Wednesday and began assisting people in distress near Shivaji bridge and Chikhli village, Navy officials said.

A joint Operations Center has also been established at Dakshin Maharashtra and Goa Sub Area, Pune under the Southern Command of the Army for coordinating the relief and rescue operations being carried out by the armed forces in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala.