Weather Updates: 13 killed in Maharashtra, many dead in Telangana, rain forecast in Gujarat & Bengal

Rains have disrupted normal life in several places across India. While a house collapsed in Kolkata on Wednesday, a techie died after falling into a drain in Hyderabad, two were killed in Bihar's Begusarai and 13 died in Maharashtra.

The situation seems to be more grim in Maharashtra where the Marathwada region has been bearing the brunt of rain fury. More than 560 people were rescued after the NDRF was mobilised and helicopters were deployed, officials said on Tuesday.

Besides, more than 200 cattle perished or were washed away and a number of houses were damaged in torrential rains that lashed Marathwada on Sunday and Monday, causing havoc in a region which is considered a perennially drought-plagued area, they said.

The Marathwada region in central Maharashtra which faced rain fury comprises eight districts - Aurangabad, Latur, Osmanabad, Parbhani, Nanded, Beed, Jalna and Hingoli. Heavy rainfall in catchment areas of the Manjara dam forced authorities to open all 18 gates of the reservoir to discharge water on Tuesday, which led to flooding in some villages in Beed district, while an alert was sounded in some neighbouring districts, the officials said.

The local administration opened all 18 gates of the Manjara dam and 11 gates of the Majalgaon dam, resulting in discharge of 78,397 cusec 80,534 cusec water from them, respectively, they said. An official from the disaster management department said in Mumbai that 13 people have died due to heavy rains and lightning in parts of Maharashtra, while 136 others have received injuries.

Of these 13 deaths, 12 were reported from Marathwada and Vidarbha regions and one from North Maharashtra's Nashik district, the official said. Of the 12 deaths, three were reported from Yavatmal district (in Vidarbha where a bus was swept away), two each from Beed, Osmanabad, Parbhani (Marathwada) and one each from Jalna, Latur (Marathwada) and Buldhana (Vidarbha), he said.

The heavy rain and flood have damaged crops on several acres of agricultural land in the region, he said. "Since Monday, the Water Resources Department has been monitoring the situation closely. We are trying to minimise the damage," Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil told reporters in Beed.

The Manjara dam was filled to the capacity which necessitated opening of 18 gates of the dam, an official said.Twenty persons were rescued from a house in Wakadwadi village of Kalamb tehsil. Some 125 persons were rescued in Ramwadi, 114 in Irla, 35 each in Ter and Borkheda and 90 in Dautpur, the official said.