Raigad landslides: 32 bodies recovered, many feared trapped, says NDRF official

By Rajnish Singh
New Delhi [India], July 23 : At least 32 bodies have been recovered and several others are feared trapped after 32 houses in a village collapsed following the landslides in Maharashtra's Raigad district, a top National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) official said.
NDRF Deputy Inspector General Mohsen Shahedi said that 18 teams of the NDRF are currently carrying out rescue and relief operations in Raigad and eight additional teams are being airlifted from Odisha considering the situation and the need for more relief operations.
The additional NDRF teams will be arriving shortly in Maharashtra.
"Landslides took place in Raigad district due to excessive rain in which about 32 houses had collapsed. The rescue operation is going on. NDRF teams are there. As per the latest report, we have recovered about 32 bodies. Some more are feared to be trapped there," Shahedi told ANI while giving a brief detail about the flood in Maharashtra and other places.
In the last two days, the NDRF DIG said, there have been floods in various parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh due to excessive rain.
"A lot of people are marooned due to the rain," said the officer, adding this operation will go on for some time.
He said that the NDRF is facing a lot of challenges there.
"The movement of the troops was initially stalled because of the problems being faced on the road due to flood. The communication network is stopped because of the electricity and other things being cut off. We are also facing a lot of problems in the smooth movement of our troops because of continuous rain," he added.
But, despite that, the DIG said, the rescue operations are going on and expressed hope that the situation will come under control in the next 24 hours.