16 killed after heavy rain including wall collapses in Gujarat, thousands rescued

Rajkot collector Rahul Gupta said 1,425 people were shifted to safer places after release of water from Aji, Nyari and other dams.

Govt keeps close watch, 83 NDRF teams rushed

The home ministry is also coordinating with the Cabinet Secretariat to ensure relief and rescue measures are put in place in the affected states.

Schools and colleges are shut in in Kerala and Karnataka; Navy is keeping an eye on situation.

Locals say the boat belonged to the gram panchayat and villagers were using it to rescue stranded people.

Police officials and disaster management personnel were making all efforts to trace the missing persons, he said.

Till now, the NDRF has rescued over 3,000 and 2, 900 people from Kolhapur and Sangli district, respectively.

As per the officials, 14,342 people have been evacuated so far from Kolhapur and Raigad and 53,000 from Sangli District.

Indian Army personnel and NDRF men have been deployed, in Belagavi, Raichur and Bagalkot districts for rescue and relief operations.

NDRF teams carried out rescue ops in Walva, Urun Islampur, Sangli, evacuated locals whose houses were completely deluged in water.

Kolhapur has been witnessing 'unprecedented' rains, causing a flood-like situation in several tehsils, he said.