Heavy rain has lashed Marathwada, a drought-prone region in central Maharashtra, for the past four days, killing eight people and flooding 159 villages in Dharashiv district. Officials said the region has not seen such heavy rainfall in over 50 years.

Over 750 houses have been damaged, and 186 cattle lost, while crops across more than 33,000 hectares have been destroyed. The heavy rainfall has also led to the collapse of three bridges in Jalna and Beed, two schools in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and five small dams in Marathwada.

State Disaster Management Minister Girish Mahajan said, “The situation is very grim. In the last 50 to 70 years, such rainfall has never been recorded. Villages are underwater. Fertile soil has been washed away, and farmers have lost crops and cattle,” noting the

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