Mumbai:
At least 25 people died in three Mumbai suburbs when several houses collapsed after landslides triggered by heavy rain, local officials said on Sunday.
Incessant overnight rains pounded Mumbai and nearby areas, with the city witnessing severe water logging, and disruption of local train services and vehicular traffic.
Rescuers were seen using their hands to dig up the ground and retrieve bodies, local television showed, and authorities said more victims could be trapped inside the debris. Rescuers were also shown carrying the injured through narrow lanes on makeshift stretchers.
Within the last 24 hours authorities have so far reported 11 incidents of houses or walls collapsing in the Mumbai area, officials said.
Twelve people died as a compound wall came crashing down on some houses after a landslide at Bharatnagar Vashi Naka locality in Mumbai's Mahul area, a fire official said.The retaining wall collapsed at 1 am, he said.
Two people were injured and taken to nearby Rajawadi hospital from where they have been discharged after preliminary treatment, he added.
Three hutment dwellers were killed as five shanties collapsed after a landslide following incessant overnight rains in Mumbai's Vikhroli suburb at 2.30 am, a civic official said.
In one neighbourhood about half a dozen shacks located at the base of a hill collapsed on top of each other, officials said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered condolences in a tweet and announced aid for the victims.
Mumbai and the coast of India's industrial Maharashtra state are expected to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall in the next four days, the weather department said on Sunday.
The rain fury reminded some Mumbaikars of the the 24-hour rainfall figure of 944 mm on July 26, 2005.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for Mumbai in the backdrop of heavy rains, a BMC official said.
Alerts by the IMD are colour-coded from green to red.
A 'green' alert stands for 'no warning': no action needs to be taken by the authorities, and the forecast is of light to moderate rain. A 'red' alert stands for "warning", and asks authorities to "take action".
An orange' alert indicates that the authorities are expected to be prepared .A sudden change in climatic conditions led to Mumbai witnessing over 100 mm rainfall in six hours, the IMD said in an early morning bulletin.
It also changed the rains forecast for the city from orange to red alert.The IMD said that till 6.30 am on Sunday, Mumbai and adjoining areas received over 120 mm rainfall in preceding 12 hours.Mumbai would receive heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places with extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places, the IMD said.
Extremely heavy rainfall means precipitation of more than 204.5 mm in 24 hours, while heavy rainfall ranges between 115.6 mm to 204.4 mm rainfall, as per the IMD.
The bulletin issued at 3 am said IMD recorded 213 mm rainfall at Santacruz, 197.5 mm at Bandra and 174 mm at Colaba in the city.
Torrential rain, especially during India's July-September monsoon, often triggers the collapse of buildings, especially older or illegally built structures.