The swollen Kamvari river near Mumbai washes away two boys in 24 hours as rain lashes the city

With raging waters in rivers overflowing amid heavy rains across Maharashtra, a 10-year-old boy was swept away by the Kamvari river in Bhiwandi in Thane on Monday, the second such incident in 24 hours.

On Sunday, a 17-year-old boy drowned in the same river after being swept away by strong currents.

Heavy rains lashed Thane, Mumbai and several other districts in Maharashtra, with the India Meteorological Department issuing a red alert for the day.

The incessant rains also caused several devastating incidents, with Thane civic bodies registering 186 emergency complaints across the city. These incidents included 110 trees collapsing, 38 falling branches, four waterlogging incidents, two compound walls collapsing, and one slab falling.

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The 10-year-old boy, who drowned on Monday, had gone to throw his household garbage near the river when he was swept away by the raging river.

Meanwhile, the teenager who drowned in the Kamvari River on Sunday had gone to the riverbank with his friends to catch crabs when strong currents caught him, sweeping him away.

Heavy waterlogging, river flooding, and damaged infrastructure have severely disrupted daily life in these cities. Rescue teams in Thane and Palghar were on high alert as rainwater entered many low-lying areas.

Meanwhile, a giant tree was uprooted and leaning on a residential building near Vrindavan bus station in Srirang community area of ​​Thane on Monday morning, news agency PTI reported.

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A 32-year-old man, Ankit Yadav, was seriously injured in the incident. Regional Disaster Management Cell (RDMC) chief Yasin Tadvi said the man’s leg was accidentally hit by a mechanical cutting machine during the process of removing uprooted branches.

Yadav is currently undergoing treatment at the civilian-run Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa.

On Bukhran Road No. 2, a huge billboard collapsed due to strong winds, sending the heavy billboard crashing to the side of the road. Civil authorities cordoned off the area to remove the treasure, Tadvi said.

Many such incidents, caused by heavy rainfall, have been reported across Maharashtra.

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In the last 24 hours ending at 8:30 am on Monday, Thane recorded 208.53 mm of rainfall, with the cumulative monsoon rainfall in the city reaching 1,157.24 mm, higher than last year’s 989.00 mm during the same period.

A landslide near the stretch in the early hours of Monday forced authorities to partially close the missing link to commuters for several hours.

Part of the stretch was seen covered in mud and silt, with videos of the site spreading on social media. MSRDC executive engineer Rakesh Sonawane said traffic was stopped only at the tunnel exit due to the landslide, adding that the rest of the connected link was intact.

Employees of government and semi-government offices, except those working in essential services, have been given half-day in the afternoon, the advisory said.

The authorities also urged city residents to avoid unnecessary travel, stay in their homes unless necessary, and follow official warnings as incessant rains continue to affect normal life in Mumbai and neighboring areas.