Six bodies were recovered by civil administration and localsand at least 20 people are missing after the Tiware dam in Maharashtra'sRatnagiri was breached late on Tuesday night following a heavy downpour.

A flood-like situation has unfolded near the breached damwith seven downstream villages facing danger. It is reported that at least 20people in a hamlet close to the dam have not been located since the breach wasfirst reported. Two teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) havebeen deployed for carrying out rescue and relief operations - one fromSindhudurg district and the other from Pune.

The local administration too has stepped in to help peoplein close vicinity of the dam. There are reports that several houses have beenwashed away by the gushing water from the breached dam.

Heavy showers in the state of Maharashtra has already led toat least 37 lives being lost. Two separate incidents of walls collapsing werereported from Pune alone - one last Saturday and the other on Tuesday. A wallalso collapsed in Mumbai's Malad. These incidents have resulted in loss of lifewith state CM Devendra Fadnavis expressing his anguish as well as announcingmonetary compensation.

The India Meteorological Department has predicted heavy tovery heavy showers to persist in Mumbai and in Maharashtra's Vidarbha andMarathwada regions. It has also asked people to avoid hilly areas in the statedue to potential dangers from heavy rainfall.