MUMBAI: Heavy rains continued to lash Maharashtra and Goa on Monday as one person was washed away at Nashik and people living alongside the Mutha river in Pune were relocated, officials said.
Flood waters at Trimbakeshwar, about 29 kms from Nashik, washed away a person whose body has not yet been recovered, sources said.
Around 300 families living in low lying areas along the river bank in Pune were shifted to safer places by authorities.
The people were moved to safer places like school premises in the city as a precautionary measure, after water levels of the Mutha river rose following incessant rains and discharge of water from the Khadakwasla dam, flood control room officials said.
Many low lying parts of Goa were already under water with most of the rivers crossing danger mark, officials said.
Villages adjoining the Valvonti river, which runs from Maharashtra to Goa, were waterlogged with the river rising quickly due to heavy rains.
Meanwhile, services on Central Railways between Mumbai and Pune, which were severely affected on Sunday due to a landslide near the Lonavala-Khandala ghat section, had been restored partially, railway authorities said.
"We have cleared two of the three tracks and are clearing the long distance trains which were delayed after the blockage of tracks," Central Railways Chief Public Relations Officer Shriniwas Mudgerikar said.
As a result of the delay in schedules of long distance trains, the inter-city express trains between Mumbai and Pune had been cancelled, Mudgerikar said.
The Deccan Queen, Pragati Express and Sinhgad Express, the three morning trains for Mumbai, remained suspended today, railway officials said.
Road traffic on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway was smooth on Monday, officials said.
Air services from the country's financial capital were also largely unaffected despite the heavy rains, a spokesperson for the airport said.
Meteorological Department officials have forecast heavy rains in city and surrounding areas over the next 48 hours.
Water level in dams and rivers across the Nashik district had also risen due to the rains, officials there said.
For farmers in the state, the rains have brought much needed relief from a prolonged dry spell during the sowing season.
