Murud taluka on Sunday recorded this year’s highest single-day rainfall of 348 mm in Raigad district, prompting the evacuation of 550 residents of six villages. The rain also triggered landslides at Rajpuri in Murud and Kelghar in Roha, damaging hutments and roads.
Traffic was diverted on Alibag-Murud route via Supegaon after a motorcyclist was killed and six occupants of a car were injured when the slab of an arch drain collapsed at 8.30 p.m. The deceased was identified as Vijay Chavan (50), a resident of Ekdara village, while the injured were Sagar Bhayde (40), wife Shobha Bhayde (38), their children Shree (9) and Neel (4); and friends Ujita Piple (38) and Pushpa Sakpal (38). They were heading from Murud to Panvel. The occupants broke the rear window with a headrest and escaped. They then alerted the control room.
A PWD officer said the three-metre-long drain was built 40 years ago. “The structural audit was conducted this year before the monsoon and it had passed the test. The heavy rainfall in Murud created pressure under the drain and caused the slab to collapse,” he said.
On Monday, high tide and heavy rainfall led to flooding in Supegaon and diversion of traffic from Agardanad to Tala. “The arch drain was constructed by the PWD. It is small in size and should ideally be under the Zilla Parishad. We have sought details from the PWD of the year of construction and funds used,” said District Collector Nidhi Choudhari. She said a proposal has been submitted to the State government to provide compensation to the victim’s kin. She said similar single-day rainfall was recorded in 2019 at Matheran and Pen.
“Around 550 villagers from six villages were evacuated in two buses. One of the buses got stranded and we had to shift people. With a red alert being issued for the district, we have sought the help of an NDRF team. Extremely heavy rain is forecast till July 15,” she said.