Mumbai wades to work, home

Another landslide at Kondiwate killed 34 people. Three bodies have been recovered from the debris, while rescue operations are on to trace other victims.

Landslides killed eight people in Roha and three in Poladpur while six persons were killed yesterday in landslides and drowning in the district, Vhatkar said. In Mahad, three persons were drowned when their car was washed away in flood waters.

Long-distance and suburban trains have been suspended.

Heavy rain affects mobile networks

Tuesday’s rain affected phone networks severely, jamming mobile phones across the city and inconveniencing scores of consumers, especially those stranded in the inundation. Mobile service providers MTNL, BSNL, Orange and BPL wereto a certain extent affected. Spokespersons from Tata Indicom, Reliance and Airtel claimed that their respective networks were working properly.

Choppers, diesel engines called for

: The Maharastra Government has asked the Centre for three helicopters and about a half-dozen diesel engines to deal with the unprecendent Mumbai floods. Senior ministry officials said that the Navy and the Air Force have been asked to provide the state administration with helicopters while the diesel engines have been requisitioned from the Indian Railways. They will be used to resuce passengers stuck inside trains and to haul local trains out of water logged spots. The disaster management wing of the Union Home Ministry is in constant touch with senior Maharastra government officials. ‘‘As of now, the state administration has not asked for any other help,” a senior Home Ministry official said.

Death toll in Andhra rises to 15

: The death toll from the rains that have lashed several parts of Andhra Pradesh over the last four days went up to 15 today, official sources said. Ten people were killed in house and wall collapse incidents and five others were washed away in floods. A total of 857 houses were destroyed while 2,153 were partially damaged in Kurnool, Adilabad, Hyderabad, Warangal, Karimnagar, Khammam, Nalgonda, West Godavari and Guntur districts. A low-pressure area in the Bay of Bengal is the cause of this week’s devastating rain, said a local Met office spokesman.

Seven die in Munnar landslides

Seven people were killed in a string of landslips caused by torrential rain in Munnar and Devikulam areas in Idukki district on Monday night and Tuesday morning.

All the bodies were recovered on Tuesday. One more person was feared killed and the search is on to retrieve his body. Incessant rain has slowed down rescue work in the affected areas.

Selvaraja Pillai (70) of Anthoniar colony was killed on Monday night when he was trapped under a mound of earth on the Nallathanni road in Munnar.

Omana, who was staying with his relative Ravichandran, died when the house at Marakkar Quarters in Munnar town caved in on Tuesday morning. Landslides also struck the Ave Maria Mission Centre at Devikulam, killing two residents—Br Antony William (32) and cook Antony (58).