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At least 31 people died in different incidents of wall collapse in Mumbai's Chembur and Vikhroli areas as heavy rains lashed the city on Sunday, 18 July.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief on the loss of lives and hoped for a speedy recovery of the injured people. Further, the Prime Minister's Office tweeted that the families of those who died would be given a sum of Rs 2 lakh each from PMNRF and Rs 50,000 would be given to those who were left injured.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, while expressing grief over the deaths, too, announced Rs 5 lakh compensation for the kin of each deceased. He also said that free treatment would be provided to the injured.
CM Thackeray will also chair a high-level meeting of officials through video conference at 6 pm on Sunday in view of the situation.
Rescue operations are underway and around 15 people have been rescued from Chembur's Bharat Nagar area, NDTV reported, quoting officials. At least 21 people were killed in the incident. Several people were reported to be injured and were hospitalised. Two of them were later discharged, news agency ANI quoted Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai officials as saying.
Meanwhile, at least ten people died as a G+1 residential building collapsed in Vikhroli area early on Sunday, 18 July, ANI reported, quoting Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials. 1 person has been reported injured in the incident.
Firemen and rescue workers after a landslide in Vikroli area, in Mumbai, on Sunday, 18 July.
(Photo: PTI)
Further, regarding the Chembur area, NDRF Inspector Rahul Raghuvansh told ANI that the NDRF personnel recovered two bodies from the debris and 10 were recovered by locals before the rescue team arrived at the location. "At least 7 more people are feared trapped," he added.
'Deeply Saddened': President Expresses Grief
President Ram Nath Kovind expressed grief over the incident and said that he was deeply saddened by the news of the casualties in incidents following heavy rain in Mumbai's Chembur and Vikhroli areas.
"I express my condolences to the bereaved families and wish for successful relief and rescue work," the official handle of President of India tweeted.
Local Train Services Affected Amid Heavy Rain
Mumbai witnessed heavy downpours that led to flooding in different areas, such as Sion, Gandhi Market, Chembur and Dadar, among others.
The waterlogging caused due to heavy rain also impacted the train services with local trains being suspended on both Central Railway and Western Railway.
On Saturday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued an Orange alert for Mumbai and had predicted rainfall for the next 24 hours.
(With inputs from NDTV and ANI)
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