At least 76 people have lost their lives and 59 others are missing in western India following landslides and flooding caused by heavy monsoon rains.
A meteorological phenomenon known in India but intensified by global warming.
Indian rescuers were rummaging through mud and debris on Saturday in an attempt to locate survivors after landslides and flooding that left at least 76 dead in the monsoon-stricken western part of the country, authorities said on Saturday. local. At least 59 people were still missing, said the government of the state of Maharashtra, of which Bombay is the capital, following multiple incidents - floods, landslides, landslides - linked to the monsoon.
"Forty-three people have died in three landslides in the district. Relief operations continue," Sagar Pathak, head of disaster management in Raigad district, south of Mumbai, told AFP.
Two other people died in landslides in Satara district, Anirudha Ashtaputre, spokesperson for the state government of Maharashtra told AFP, and about 15 are missing.
Several regions placed on red alert in the face of rains
The navy and the air force intervened to help the thousands of people affected by the floods.
But the relief operations are complicated by the landslides which cut several roads, in particular the highway between Bombay and Goa.
More than 24 hours of uninterrupted intense rainfall brought the Vashishti River out of its bed.
Neighborhoods in the locality of Chiplun, 250 km from Bombay, were drowned under 3.5 meters of water.
Maharashtra head of government Uddhav Thackeray said emergency services were struggling to reach now isolated areas of Chiplun due to flood damaged roads and bridges.
The navy mobilized seven rescue teams equipped with inflatable boats, life jackets and buoys to the affected areas, as well as specialized drivers and a helicopter to helicopter the castaways. The Indian meteorological department has placed several regions of the island. State in red alert, specifying that the heavy rains should continue in the coming days.
Bombay without water
Torrential monsoon rains were compounded by heavy tides and water releases from several dams pressurized by the accumulation of reserves, according to the government of Maharashtra.
Floods and landslides are common in India during the monsoon season (June-September), which often sees old buildings collapse after days of continuous rain.
Authorities on Friday announced the deaths of 4 people overnight in a building collapse in a Bombay slum, less than a week after 34 people were crushed by a wall collapsing, consecutive to a landslide due to heavy rains.
The rains also caused the flooding of a water treatment center, interrupting the distribution of water in "most areas of Mumbai," authorities in the city of 20 million people said. monsoon phenomena in India are intensifying, according to a report by the Potsdam Climate Impact Research Institute (PIK). This report warns of the possible consequences of this development on food, agriculture and the economy in a country representing one fifth of the world's population.