In India, landslides kill at least 36 people and dozens are missing

Monsoon landslides in western India have killed at least 36 people and left dozens missing, a local official said on Friday (July 23).

According to him, there were three landslides on Thursday in Raigad district of Maharashtra, its capital Bombay. “At least 35 to 40 people are trapped. We are trying to rescue them. ”, He said “36 killed in three landslides yesterday”.

The Navy and Air Force are working together to help thousands of people affected by the floods. But relief efforts are hampered by the extent of the damage, especially by these landslides, which cut off many roads, especially the highway between Bombay and Goa.

Ten people were injured in a landslide in the city of Gate, according to a state government report “10 to 15 people may be trapped under rubble”. The rain caused the water treatment plant to flood, thus disrupting the water supply “Most parts of Bombay”, Local officials said.

Climate impact

Uninterrupted heavy rain for more than twenty-four hours brought the Vashishti River out of its bed. Surrounding areas in the Siploon area, about 250 kilometers from Bombay, were submerged by 3.5 meters of water. In Bombay, the business capital of India, At least 34 people were killed last weekend A wall collapsed due to a landslide triggered by heavy monsoon rains.

In June, 12 people were killed when a building collapsed in the megalopolis slum, home to 20 million people. Between the months of June and September, building collapses are common in India during the rainy season, with old and trembling structures leading after uninterrupted rain.

In September 2020, 39 people went missing after a three-storey building collapsed in Bhiwandi. In 2014, more than 150 people were killed in the state of Maharashtra, where a mountain collapsed due to heavy rains, burying residents in mud and rubble.

Climate change in India is intensifying monsoon events, according to a report released by the Potsdam Climate Change Research Institute (PIK). The report warns of the potential impact of this growth on food, agriculture and the economy in a country that represents one-fifth of the world’s population. “Knowing that the entire Indian society is exposed significantly to the monsoon is a big difference [du phénomène] It will affect not only agriculture but also the structure of public life. ”, Explains PIK and Anders Leverman, a researcher at Columbia University in the US.

According to Christian Aid, five of the worst weather events in the world last year were due to the monsoon, especially in Asia. In 2013, the state of Uttarakhand was marked by monsoon rains, flash floods and landslides, which engulfed entire villages and killed 6,000 people.