From Bengaluru to Gurugram, from Assam to Mumbai, and now Nashik. The failure of India's drains to effectively do what they are supposed to continues. According to PTI, around 85 people have been killed in India due to floods and lightning strikes over the past few days.

Over the past 48 hours, rains lashed Nashik and caused major floods, because of which 3,000 people had to be evacuated while one person was killed.

Late on Tuesday night, torrential rains caused a British-era bridge on the Mumbai-Goa highway to collapse. About 80 per cent of the bridge gave away. Vehicles were washed away and NDRF teams had to be called in along with helicopters to carry out search-and-rescue operations. According to Skymet, rainfall of 389mm, the highest-recorded in a 24-hour period in the past ten years in the hill station of Mahabaleshwar, caused the Savitri river to flood and led to the collapse of the bridge.

Spot videos captured the chaos and severity of floods in both situations.

In Nashik, the rainfall was similarly severe. Between the span of nine hours between August 2 and August 3, 194 mm of rainfall, surpassing the average monthly rainfall, was recorded. According to Skymet, these adverse weather conditions have been caused by an active cyclonic circulation over Gujarat.

Spot videos within the city captured bikes being washed away, citizen rescue operations, and the flooding of the Godavari river.

Here's a diagrammatic representation of why flooding occurs: rivers overflowing, water accumulation in low lands and urbanisation in flood prone areas, worsened by buildings and impermeable surfaces like concrete.

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Here's how to provide care and prevent injury during flooding, which is the world's second serious disaster caused owing to "increased building, population growth and trash left in rivers".

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