August 2019

22 August 2019
WORLD
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
Train services hit, 400 rescued by
boats as rains pound Mumbai
Mumbai : Mumbai and the coastal Konkan
region continued to experience heavy rains on
Sunday with the Central Railway services hit on
various sectors and boats were deployed to rescue
around 400 people stranded in the Kurla suburb,
officials said here. Following incessant overnight
rains, water seeped into many homes in Kranti
Nagar area of Kurla, following which the BMC
deployed rubber boats to rescue around 400 stranded
residents. In Church Road-Dahanukarwadi areas
of Kandivali, some locals made temporary rafts of
wooden board to ferry people to nearby areas for
replenishing stocks of essentials. Around 35 people
of the tiny Ju village in Thane have been stranded
due to rising flood waters and the state government
has requested an air rescue operation for them.
They have been temporarily shifted to Bazarwad
Municipal School and arrangements made to give
them food, water and medical help as required, said
the BMC Disaster Control.
In some villages in Pen, Raigad district, around
60 people were stuck in five-six feet deep water
since 4 a.m. on Sunday, and the authorities have
deployed NDRF teams to rescue them. The downpour,
which revived with full intensity since Friday
night, continued Sunday with many areas of
Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad and Ratnagiri
remaining submerged, hitting normal life and road
traffic. Barring delays, the Western Railway services
continued, but CR services were hit in some sectors
like Kurla-Sion due to waterlogging on tracks,
breaches in railway lines, landslides on outstation
routes. Its suburban Harbour Line was also paralysed.
Mumbai is likely experience a 4.86 metres
high tide at 2.29 p.m. on Sunday, with the IMD and
BMC Disaster Control warning people to keep
away from coastal areas and beaches in the city. The
BMC, Indian Army, Navy and Air Force, besides all
other agencies, are on a high alert for any eventuality.
A portion of a bridge on Pinjal river in Palghar
was washed away, bringing traffic to a complete
halt on both sides. For the second consecutive day,
waterlooging was reported in many areas of Nala
Sopara, Vasai, Virar, Vikramgad (Palghar district),
Mira Road, Bhayander, Thane City, Bhiwandi,
Kalyan, Titwala, Ulhasnagar (Thane), Roha, Pali,
Mangaon, Karjat, Pen, Panvel (Raigad), and
Mandangad, Chiplun, Dapoli (Ratnagiri). In
Mumbai, several vulnerable spots in Dahisar,
Borivali, Kandivali, Andheri, Santacruz, Khar,
Bandra, Matunga, Parel, Dadar, Kings Circle, Sion,
Vikhroli, Ghatkopar,Kurla, Bhandup, Mulund and
other parts were flooded. Subways in Kandivali,
Woman gets triple talaq over
phone from husband in Saudi
Malad, and Andheri were flooded hampering traffic
movement in the east-west directions. However,
most flights were operating at Chhatrapati Shivaji
Maharaj International Airport with delays of around
30 minutes, said officials.
Till Sunday morning, the IMD said Mumbai city
recorded 142 mm rains and the suburbs notched
204 mm. The BMC’s rain monitors pegged the figure
at 116 mm for Mumbai city, 195 mm for the
eastern-western suburbs. The BMC Disaster
Control have asked people to keep away from all
seafronts for the next two days as extremely heavy
rains are forecast.
5 dead in Maharashtra
rains, IAF, NDRF
rescue VILLAGERS
Mumbai : At least five persons were
killed in Mumbai and Satara as rains continued
to batter large parts of
Maharashtra, especially the coastal
Konkan region, on Sunday, hitting train
services hit badly. Helicopters rescued 73
people in Thane and boats were deployed
to rescue around 400 people stranded in
Mumbai suburbs, officials said.
In the state capital, a woman and her
son were killed due to electrocution in
Santacruz east and a youth was washed
away in Dharavi while two persons from
Pune drowned in a waterfall in Satara
after their vehicle hit a barricade and fell
into a flooded drain at Babhalnala early
on Sunday. Following incessant
overnight rains, water seeped into many
homes in Kranti Nagar, Indira Nagar,
Jarimari, Shankarnagar and Bail-bazar
areas of Kurla suburb and two teams of
the NDRF deployed rubber boats to rescue
around 400 residents stranded there.
"They have been temporarily shifted
to Bazarwad Municipal School and other
schools. Congress activists have also
made arrangements for food, water and
medical help as required," local MLA
and Congress deputy leader in Assembly
Naseem Khan said. The Indian Air Force
deployed a MI-17 helicopter to rescue 58
villagers, including 18 children, from Ju
village in neigbouring Thane as they
were stranded in rising flood waters. In
another operation, 15 marooned villagers
were saved by a MI-17 chopper in
Buranda village of Palghar this evening.
Kushinagar : The Kushinagar police have
registered a case against a man who allegedly
gave talaq to his wife over phone from Saudi
Arabia. This comes three days after the Triple
Talaq Bill was passed by both the Houses of
Parliament and got the President’s assent.
According to reports, the woman’s father
submitted a written complaint to the police on
Saturday following which an FIR was registered
against the husband under Section 4 of
the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on
Marriage) Act, 2019, at the Nibua Naurangiya
police station of Kushinagar district.
The accused Abdul Raheem, son of
Tarabuddin, a resident of Shobha Chapra village
under the Nibua Naurangiya police station
in Kushinagar, said talaq three times to his 25-
year-old wife Fatima Khatoon over phone on
Wednesday and ended the call.
Fatima, daughter of Ahmad Ali, had got
married to Abdul in 2014. After four months of
marriage, Abdul went to Saudi Arabia to work
and came during vacations but his behaviour
with Fatima was not good and even his family
members harassed her.
"On Wednesday, my daughter was doing
household work when her father-in-law
Tarabuddin came and handed her his phone,
telling her to talk to Abdul who said talaq three
times and ended the call. "Abdul’s father called
a panchayat, took my daughter’s thumb print
on a paper and handed her a cheque of Rs 1.5
lakh, saying the marriage was over," said the
victim’s father.
R.N. Misra, Superintendent of Police,
Kushinagar, said, "Taking action on the complaint
of the woman’s father, a case has been
registered against the woman’s husband under
Section 4 of the Muslim Women (Protection of
Rights on Marriage) Act. We are probing the
role of all the people involved and are taking
statements of both sides. Since the accused is
in Saudi Arabia, we are sending notice through
proper channel."