Maharashtra Floods of 2005

The Maharashtra floods of 2005 refers to the flooding of many parts of the Indian state of Maharashtra including large areas of the metropolis Mumbai, a city located on the coast of the Arabian Sea, on the western coast of India, in which at least 1,000 people died. It occurred just one month after similar flooding in Gujarat. The term 26 July, now is, in context always used for the day when the city of Mumbai came to a standstill.

More than 20 people are reported to have been killed in India's Maharashtra state by floods and landslides caused by heavy monsoon rains.

The worst affected area is the Raigad district south of the state capital, Mumbai (Bombay).

The rains have caused chaos in Mumbai where some residents say they have never seen such heavy monsoon falls.

Monsoon floods at the end of June and early July left more than 50 people dead in neighbouring Gujarat state.

The flood-related problems in Maharashtra are of "its own making" and its allegation and argument that the increase in the height of Alamatti reservoir and its present level of storage are responsible for the inundation of some of the villages in that State are incorrect and far-fetched, Karnataka Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh, Deputy Chief Minister M.P. Prakash and Minister for Water Resources M. Mallikarjuna Kharge have asserted.

They told presspersons here on Monday that the inflow at the Alamatti Dam on Monday was 4,13,000 cusecs and the recorded outflow was 4,50,000 cusecs. During the last week, the dam received an average inflow of 3,20,000 cusecs and maintained an outflow of 4,20,000 cusecs. That kind of inflow and outflow situation cannot give room for backwaters, they said.