Over 3,500 people shifted to safer places in Maharashtra as heavy rains lash state

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Over 3,500 people have been moved to safer places from flood-prone areas in Maharashtra, as heavy rains batter several districts in the state  including Mumbai, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said on Monday.</p>
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"I told the chief secretary in the morning to direct all guardian secretaries to visit their respective districts and coordinate between the NDRF, the Air force, the Navy and other departments," the Chief Minister said.</p>
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The state has been witnessing heavy rain since Monday, with water-logging reported from Mumbai and other cities, while the water level of some rivers in the state was rising rapidly.</p>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WATCH?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WATCH</a> | Maharashtra: Mumbai wakes up to severe waterlogging in the aftermath of heavy rains lashing the city.<br />
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— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1544150817384439809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Mumbai’s Pawai Lake also began overflowing on Tuesday evening. The lake has a storage capacity of 545 crore litres and started overflowing at 6:15 pm, he added.</p>
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"When the lake is full, the water area is around 2.23 square kilometres, while the catchment area is 6.61 square kilometres,” a BMC official said.</p>
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The India Meteorological Department had issued 'red' and 'orange' alerts predicting very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall for Raigad, Ratnagiri and Mumbai.</p>
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Teams from the National Disaster Response Force or NDRF have been pressed into service.</p>
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The Chief Minister also visited the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's disaster control room.</p>
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Shinde has told Mumbai municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal to arrange extra BEST and state transport buses to ferry stranded passengers.</p>