Severe Flooding in Palghar's Devipada Strands Families and Deceased Woman on Rooftops

Severe flooding in the Devipada area of Kelve, located in Maharashtra's Palghar district, left residents stranded on their rooftops over the weekend, including a grieving family forced to keep a relative's body on their roof for 12 hours. The torrential rainfall and subsequent flooding disrupted normal life across the locality, submerging roads and houses.

In one incident, the family of 55-year-old Anusuya Manohar Lilaka had to place her body on their rooftop to prevent it from being swept away by rising floodwaters. Lilaka, a resident of Devipada near the Kelve railway station, passed away late on July 5 while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Dhundalwadi in Dahanu taluka.

When her family brought her body back by ambulance, they found their path blocked near the Kelwe Road railway station. The underpass beneath a nearby railway bridge was submerged under four to five feet of water, making it impassable for vehicles.

Determined to reach home, the family carried Lilaka's body on their shoulders through the flooded stretch. Shortly after they arrived at their house, heavy rain lashed the area again, causing water levels to rise rapidly. To protect the body, the family carried it to the rooftop, covered it with a black plastic sheet, and waited for nearly 12 hours until the waters receded on the afternoon of July 6 to perform her last rites.

In the same Devipada neighborhood, another family of eight, including young children and toddlers, was stranded on their rooftop for nearly four hours on Sunday. Torrential rain had completely surrounded their home, leaving them with no escape route as water levels rose.

The stranded family alleged that they received no rescue assistance from authorities during the four-hour ordeal. They were only able to climb down safely with their children after the floodwaters began to recede.