Addressing a press conference after reviewing the flood situation at the state disaster management control room, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the weather situation requires constant monitoring till July 8.
"We are keeping a close watch on the situation, and all agencies have been alerted," he said. He also pointed out that the authorities are working to manage landslides, swollen rivers, and rescue operations.
He warned of a possible cloudburst-like spell in Nashik on Tuesday. He also asked the citizens to avoid unnecessary travel and stay off the roads.
Fadnavis said some stretches of the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Expressway had been closed after water accumulated at construction sites and restoration work was underway, while in Palghar district, another high tide expected later in the day could aggravate waterlogging if rainfall resumes.
Fadnavis reported that heavy rainfall in the Western Ghats and Raigad district has caused major rivers, including the Savitri, to exceed danger levels.
While desilting efforts helped prevent floodwaters from entering nearby towns, landslides have severely disrupted traffic.
He said that a massive landslide near Kashedi Ghat on the Mumbai-Goa Highway and seven other landslides triggered by unprecedented rainfall had disrupted traffic, and debris was being cleared on a priority basis to restore traffic.
The chief minister described the landslide on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway as "an unprecedented event", saying nearly 100 tonnes of debris had fallen at a location where such incidents had never occurred before.
Around 70 tonnes of debris had already been removed, three lanes towards Pune had been reopened, and work was progressing to restore traffic towards Mumbai, he said.
Fadnavis said authorities were also closely monitoring Satara and Kolhapur amid rising river levels.
Regarding the annual Wari pilgrimage, the chief minister advised devotees not to gather at Dehu and Alandi, as all four bridges over the Indrayani River are submerged.
Instead, pilgrims are encouraged to travel directly to Pune, where the government has arranged large temporary hangars to accommodate them.
In Palghar, residents of downstream villages are being evacuated after part of a small dam was damaged, he said.
Fadnavis further said that the State Disaster Management Control Room and the BMC control room were functioning round the clock, while NDRF teams had been pre-positioned in vulnerable areas based on weather forecasts and SDRF teams were redeployed according to the latest alerts.
He said that a decision on the closure of schools and colleges would be taken after reviewing the latest weather inputs later in the day.
He also urged private companies to implement the state's work-from-home advisory, saying employers should respond to weather alerts "from a humanitarian point of view".
The chief minister dismissed allegations of corruption regarding infrastructure projects, maintaining that there was no structural failure on the connecting link and that traffic disruptions were caused by landslides on adjoining hills.
He slammed state Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal for alleging corruption in the infra projects, stating that in 2013, the then chief minister from the Congress listed 13 reasons why the connecting link could not be built and closed the file, but it was the Mahayuti government that took a decision and completed the project.
With inputs from PTI