Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar | Heavy rains in Maharashtra's Marathwada region led to the death of two persons in Dharashiv and the evacuation of more than 3,500 persons from inundated areas in the district, officials said on Sunday.

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district in the region also witnessed heavy downpour, bringing traffic to a halt on a road connecting it to Ahilyanagar in the morning, they said.

The Harsul circle in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar recorded a whopping 196 mm rainfall over the last 24 hours, a revenue official said.

Heavy rains continued in some pockets of other districts of the Marathwada region, including Beed, Nanded and Parbhani, which are also reeling under floods.

Excess rainfall was recorded in 189 revenue circles in six districts of the usually drought-probe Marathwada region, the official said.

One death each was reported from Omerga and Paranda talukas of flood hit-Dharashiv district on Saturday night. One of victims drowned in the flood water while the other death was due to another rain-related incident, an official said.

"The rain intensity reduced in Dharashiv from last night. So, now we are focussing on supplying aid to the affected families. Due to ongoing water discharge of 75,500 cusec from the Sina Kolegaon dam, areas in Paranda were inundated. But we have shifted 3,615 residents to safer locations," a senior district administration official told PTI.

In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, the highest rainfall of 196 mm was recorded in Harsul circle, while Shivur and Borsar circles, in Vaijapur taluka, received 189.25 mm rain, another official said.

Due to heavy rainfall in the Waluj area here, the traffic on Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar-Ahilyanagar road came to a halt in the morning, he said.

All 27 gates of the Jayakwadi dam were lifted to a height of 4 to 5.5 feet, discharging 1.41 lakh cusec (cubic foot per second) of water into the Godavari river, the official said.

A flood warning has been issued to villages along the banks of the Godavari river in Marathwada, including the town of Paithan, he said.

There are 483 revenue circles in the region where rain gauges are installed. Out of these, 189 circles recorded excess rainfall (above 65 mm in a single day) in the last 24 hours, the official said.