Heavy rains pound Thane, Palghar in Maha; 2 persons swept away in flood waters, many areas inundated
Thane/Palghar: Heavy rains pounded Thane and neighbouring Palghar district of Maharashtra in the last 24 hours, resulting in water-logging in many areas and a number of incidents of tree fall, officials said.
Two persons were swept away in swollen water bodies in the last two days. While the body of one of them was recovered, efforts were on to trace the other person, they said.
A number of cars were also damaged in Thane district in rain-related incidents, the officials said.
A portion of a compound wall of the upscale NRI Complex in Navi Mumbai township of Thane district collapsed on Wednesday night after heavy rains, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation's disaster management cell chief Dr Babasaheb Rajale told PTI on Thursday.
No person was injured in the incident, he said, adding a few cars parked in the complex were damaged.
A 16-year-old boy from Diva in Thane city was swept away in a swollen nullah on Wednesday night and efforts were still on to trace him, officials said.
Thane city received 200.08 mm rainfall in the 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am on Thursday, Thane Municipal Corporation's disaster management cell chief Yasin Tadvi said.
Since January this year, the city has so far recorded 506.46 mm rainfall, compared to 198.32 mm in the same period last year, he said.
Following heavy rains on Wednesday as well as on Thursday morning, several low-lying areas in Bhiwandi, Kalyan and Ulhasnagar townships of Thane were flooded, district disaster control room said.
Water entered several houses in low-lying areas and Manpada police station in Dombivli, while various offices reported leakages following heavy showers, it said.
A video of the water-logged police station went viral on social media platforms.
Local firemen and disaster management cell teams were on their toes, attending to several calls of water-logging and tree fall in Thane city in which at least half-a-dozen cars were damaged, Tadvi said.
In Palghar, a villager, Devram Ramji Gimbal (45), was swept away in a swollen stream in Wada taluka on Tuesday when he went out to buy seeds for growing paddy, district disaster management cell chief Vivekanand Kadam told PTI.
The body was recovered from the stream on Wednesday and sent to a government hospital for postmortem. A case of accidental death was registered, he added.
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CM invites Obama to attend centenary celebration of Gandhi taking over as President of INC session
Haveri (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has written to former US President Barack Obama, extending him an invitation to an event to mark the centenary celebration of Mahatma Gandhi taking over as the President of the Indian National Congress session in Belagavi in the State.
The 39th session of the INC held at the district headquarters town of Belagavi in 1924 was the only Congress session presided over by Mahatma Gandhi.
"I have written a letter (to Obama)....it is hundred years since Mahatma Gandhi became the President of the Belagavi Congress session. So I have invited him (for an event to commemorate it)," Siddaramaiah told reporters here on Tuesday.
According to official sources, it has been decided to hold a joint session of the legislature in Belagavi to mark the occasion and Obama has been invited to it.
"Based on the dates he (Obama) gives, the joint session schedule will be decided," an official added.
On October 2, during a Gandhi Jayanti event, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil, who is also the head of the committee formed for the centenary celebrations, had said that the Congress government was planning to invite Obama to an such event planned in December.
Siddaramaiah had in his independence day speech on August 15 said the state government will take all necessary measures to commemorate the centenary of the Belagavi session of the INC this year in a memorable and meaningful way.
