Army personnel rescue people stranded in flood waters after heavy rains on the outskirts of Sangli in Maharashtra

NEW DELHI: Rains continued to bring gloom to parts of Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra with 32 fresh deaths reported on Friday, taking the death toll due to floods in these states in the last three days to 79.In a grim reminder of the August 2018 floods that wreaked havoc across its districts, Kerala was the worst hit state with 20 deaths reported on Friday, taking the toll in the last 72 hours to 28. The toll could rise as at least 40 people are feared trapped under debris in major landslides in Wayanad and Malappuram districts.Rescue teams recovered eight bodies from Wayanad while 10 people were killed and 30 others reported missing in multiple landslides in the hilly regions of Malappuram. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said there are reports of people still marooned and missing in landslides and the exact number of casualties would be known only later.Kochi airport, the busiest in the state, was shut till Sunday after floodwaters inundated the apron area. The India Meteorological Department has issued a red alert for extremely heavy rainfall in seven districts — Ernakulam, Idukki, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad and Kannur — on Saturday.Thirteen NDRF teams and around 180 Army personnel have reached Kerala for rescue operations. Over 64,000 people were shifted to relief camps as heavy rain, ranging from 20 to 40cm, continued to batter many parts of the state.In Karnataka, 10 deaths were reported on Friday, taking the flood toll in the state to 22. Like Kerala, Kodagu, the land of coffee and spices, relived ghastly memories of the 2018 catastrophe as seven members of a family perished in a landslide in the Virajpet taluk while eight others went missing during a rescue operation in the same region.A red alert has been sounded in six districts of Malnad and coastal Karnataka, including Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, as IMD has predicted more rains in the next 48 hours in southern Karnataka.In northern Karnataka, heavy downpour continued to pile misery on tens of thousands of people. There was no respite as Karnataka heeded neighbouring Maharashtra’s request to release five lakh cusecs of water from Almatti and Narayanpura. Over 1.3 lakh people have been rescued in the region.In Maharashtra, two more deaths were reported on Friday, taking the total flood toll in Pune division to 29. The situation in flood-hit Kolhapur and Sangli districts continued to be a cause of concern with the Panchaganga and Krishna rivers showing a marginal reduction in water levels but still flowing well above the danger mark.NH4, which connects Mumbai and Bengaluru via Kolhapur, remained shut for the fourth consecutive day with heavy vehicles stuck in serpentine queues due to floods. Traffic from Mumbai and Pune has been shut just ahead of Karad town in Satara district for the past three days.Pune divisional commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar said nine people in Thursday’s boat capsize in Sangli were still missing. Nine bodies were found and 18 people rescued after the tragedy.Nearly 2.85 lakh people have been evacuated in western Maharashtra so far. Power and water supply has been cut off and landline phones have gone dead in many parts of Kolhapur and Sangli districts.The next 24 hours are crucial for the flood-hit states as heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely in Kerala, Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan, according to IMD.