The monsoon made its presence felt in Maharashtra on Saturday, with at least 16 people being killed in various heavy rain-related incidents reported from across the State during the last 24 hours.
The monsoon arrived with a bang on Friday evening, as heavy rain lashed most parts of the State all through the night, giving relief to the people from the blistering heat that they have been reeling under for the last several weeks.
Many parts of the State will continue to be under wet spell till Monday evening, with the weather bureau having forecast heavy rain over the next 48 hours.
The incidents of lightning claimed as many as 10 lives in the State. While four people were killed and eight others injured in Gadchiroli district in eastern Maharashtra, the lightning left three persons dead in Nanded, two in latur and one in Nashik. All these incidents took place in the early hours of Saturday.
Four children drowned in Chandraban river in the temple town of Phandarpur in Solapur district on Saturday morning, when they had gone for a swim. The children killed in the mishap were in the age group of 6 to 8 years. The children had no clue about the depth of the water when they went for a swim. local people brought the four children out of water. But, they were declared before they were admitted to a sub-district hospital.
While a 10-year-old boy fell into a choked drain in Nevasa, Ahmednagar, an IT engineer Yogesh Kurle was electrocuted when he accidentally touched an electric wire in Murbad tehsil in Thane district.
In what came as a big relief to the people, temperatures dropped considerably from average high of 32-36 degrees Celsius to 24-22 degrees Celsius in the State following the heavy downpour.