Maharashtra monsoon fury: 11 dead, Mumbai-Pune link hit, 17 flights cancelled

Dubai: Relentless monsoon rains battered Maharashtra on Monday, killing at least 11 people, crippling road, rail and air transport, and triggering landslides, flooding and building collapses as authorities warned residents to stay indoors and avoid all non-essential travel.

Three members of a family were killed when a pre-dawn landslide buried their home in Patan village in Pune’s Maval tehsil, while eight others died in separate rain-related incidents in Mumbai, including six people — five of them children — killed after a four-storey building collapsed onto an adjoining shanty in Mankhurd. Two more people died in separate tree-fall incidents as powerful winds lashed the city, Indian media reports said.

The landslide in Pune struck at around 4.25am after a portion of a hill collapsed onto several houses. The victims were identified as Nandu Tikone (60), Anita Tikone (55) and Mauli Tikone (30). Rescue teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), police and local authorities searched through tonnes of mud and debris after around five houses were buried.

Maharashtra monsoon: At a glance

• 11 dead in rain-related incidents across Maharashtra

• 3 family members killed in Pune landslide after hill collapse

• 8 dead in Mumbai, including six in Mankhurd building collapse

• 17 flights cancelled, 217 delayed at Mumbai airport

• Mumbai-Pune Expressway partially reopened after landslide clearance

• Rail, bus and road services disrupted by flooding

• Mumbai received almost a month’s rain in just four days

• Winds expected to reach 70-90 kmph

• Cloudburst warning for Nashik with up to 300 mm rain forecast

• Authorities urge people to stay indoors and avoid non-essential travel

The relentless rain also crippled one of India’s busiest transport corridors after landslides and flooding forced authorities to suspend traffic on both the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and the old Mumbai-Pune Highway. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said nearly 100 tonnes of debris crashed onto the expressway. One lane towards Mumbai was later reopened after about 70 per cent of the debris was cleared, but police urged commuters to postpone non-essential travel between the two cities.

Rail services affected

The severe weather also disrupted air travel. Seventeen flights were cancelled and 217 others delayed at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport by 11.30am on Monday as heavy rain and poor visibility affected operations. Rail services were also affected in several areas because of waterlogging, while BEST diverted buses on dozens of routes.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an red alert for Mumbai, warning of another spell of heavy rainfall, while neighbouring districts remain on high alert. Authorities said Mumbai has already received almost its average rainfall for the entire month of July in just four days, overwhelming drainage systems and flooding roads across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

Addressing the media, Maharashtra Disaster Management Minister Girish Mahajan said the scale of the weather system was unprecedented.

“One month’s average rainfall has been experienced in just four days. Metro services are running, and trains and buses are operating to a great extent, but wind speeds are unprecedented,” he said.

Mahajan said winds of around 50 kmph had already battered Mumbai, bringing down an unusually large number of trees.

“Half of the total number of trees that normally fall during the entire four-month monsoon season came down in just one day,” he said, adding that around 450 tree branches had also fallen across the city.

Officials warned that wind speeds could increase to 70-90 kmph, posing further risks of falling trees and structural damage.

“We appeal to people not to step out unless absolutely essential,” Mahajan said, while also warning that a developing low-pressure system could trigger a major cloudburst in Nashik on Tuesday, with rainfall of up to 300 mm forecast in parts of the district.

Schools and colleges across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region remained closed as a precaution, while private offices were advised to allow employees to work from home wherever possible.

With more heavy rain forecast over the next 48 hours, authorities warned that saturated hillsides, overflowing rivers and strong winds could trigger fresh landslides, flooding and transport disruptions across Maharashtra.

-- With ANI inputs