A holiday has been declared for schools, colleges and other educational institutes in Raigad district of Maharashtra today, Thursday, July 25 in the wake of heavy rainfall, officials said. A similar order has been issued for Wada and Vikramgad talukas in Palghar district. Both these districts lie in the coastal region of Maharashtra, PTI reported.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued a red alert for the Raigad district for Wednesday, July 24, which continued till today, July 25 and predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall.

In view of the red alert, Raigad Collector Kishan Jawale announced a holiday for all government and private schools, training institutes and colleges.

Further, according to officials, the district has been receiving heavy showers over the past few days, which resulted in several rivers, including Kundalika, Amba and Savitri, flowing above the danger mark, which has led to disruption in communication networks. 

Further, the administration has requested that the teaching staff report for duty and assist other personnel in disaster management efforts.

An official release said that the weather bureau has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall at places with the possibility of extremely heavy showers at isolated places and given an orange alert for the entire district. 

Based on the ground report received from the tehsildars of Wada and Vikramgad talukas, a holiday has been declared there for all private and public educational institutions in the talukas, the collector's order added, PTI reported.