Pre-monsoon rains claim 16 lives in Maharashtra

Torrential rains lashed large parts of Maharashtra including Mumbai yesterday claiming at least 16 lives.The monsoon meanwhile progressed normally over the state and the weather department forecast heavy rain over the next 48 hours.Providing succour from the blistering heat, many areas of the state, including coastal Konkan, Mumbai, northern, western and eastern Maharashtra, were lashed by a downpour accompanied with thunder and lightning yesterday.Low-lying areas in some cities experienced water-logging as gutters and storm water drains were flooded in a short time and water gushed out onto the streets.At least 16 people have lost their lives in rain-related incidents in different parts of the state since midnight in what is described as pre-monsoon rain.Four people were killed and eight others were injured in Gadchiroli, three died in Nanded, two in Latur and one in Nashik when they were struck by lightning in the early hours yesterday.A 10-year-old boy was washed away when he was on his way to school and was trying to cross a small bridge over a heavily flooded drain in Nevasa in Ahmednagar.Yogesh Kurle, an IT engineer, was electrocuted when he accidentally touched a live wire near Murbad in Thane district, while another person was seriously injured.Early yesterday, four children aged between four and seven were washed away in Chandrabhaga river near Pandharpur in Solapur district when they had gone for a swim.Their family members and local activists said the children failed to judge the water level on account of illegal sand dredging.The downpour resulted in a technical glitch in an electric transformer in Palghar district with many areas experiencing power breakdown since morning.