Monsoon rains: Rivers in spate; floods, landslides impact hundreds
Bhubaneswar/ New Delhi: Floods and landslides triggered by intense monsoon rains have killed at least 50 people in the northern and eastern regions of India. The flood situation in several northern Odisha districts was alarming on Monday, as the swollen Subarnekha river inundated low-lying areas and left people in over 100 villages marooned, officials said.
The water level in all the rivers located in north Odisha is in spate due to heavy rain caused by a deep depression over the Bay of Bengal, and subsequent flood-water release from Jharkhand, they said.
Authorities in Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts had on Sunday launched a massive evacuation drive to shift people from vulnerable areas to safer locations, which is continuing on Monday, they said.
Subarnarekha has been rising significantly since Sunday evening, inundating many areas in Baliapal, Bhograi, Basta and Jaleswar in Balasore by 11 am, the officials said.
The Saraskana and Rasgovindpur blocks in Mayurbhanj district have also been submerged. The authorities expect peak flooding to take place after more water is released from the Galudih barrage in Jharkhand. As per data from the Central Water Commission (CWC), the water level of Subarnarekha at Rajghat in the district was 11.90 metre at 9 am as against the danger level of 10.36 metre, while at Jamsolaghat, it was 50.04 metre as against the danger level of 49.15 metre.
Apart from the Subarnarekha river, Balasore district is also affected by the flood waters of river Budhabalang and Jalaka, they said.
In Jajpur district, the Baitarani river inundated a number of blocks, including Dasrathpur and Korei, while in Keonjhar, several places in Hatadihi, Ghasipura and Anandapur are under water.
Odisha Water Resources Minister Tukuni Sahu, after reviewing the flood situation, said: "Though the Subarnarekha river is still flowing above the danger mark, the water level has remained stable for the last eight hours. We are keeping a close watch."
Nearly 156 villages in 83 gram panchayats in Balasore district have been hit by the flood. The administration has evacuated 40,000 people by Monday noon, and they are housed in 227 temporary shelters. The process is still underway, Balasore District Collector Dattatraya Bhausaheb Shinde said.
Meanwhile, a couple died as heavy rainfall and subsequent release of excess water from dams led to a flood-like situation in parts of Rajasthan's Kota and Jhalawar districts and surrounding areas, officials said on Monday.
Thousands were evacuated from low-lying areas across districts, they said.
In Kota, Jhalawar and Bundi, the administration declared a holiday in government and private schools on Tuesday. Schools were closed on Monday also. Kota was the worst affected among the three districts.
In Tonk district's Mandawara village, a 40-year-old woman, Samodara Meena, slipped into a flooded drain behind her house. Her husband Babu Lal Meena, 45, jumped into the drain to rescue her but both of them died, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Uniyara, Khalil Ahmed said.
In Kota, approximately 3,500 people were shifted from low-lying areas to safer places and temporary shelters as the areas were submerged following rainfall and release of water from the Kota barrage.
"As many as 1,500 people have been shifted to safer places from low-lying areas in Kota. School buildings are being used as temporary shelters," Kota District Collector O P Bunkar said.
State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams have also been pressed into service, he said.
A Kota district administration official said 14 of the 19 gates of the barrage have been opened so far.
Nearly 3.83 lakh cusecs of water has been released from the barrage. The authorities plan to release 5.75 lakh cusecs, the official said.
Heavy rains continued in many parts of Madhya Pradesh for the third day on Monday, resulting in schools being closed in some districts including state capital Bhopal and Jabalpur, officials said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for Monday, predicting heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places in western parts of the state.
Rivers, drains and other water bodies were in spate in large parts of the state and gates of many dams were opened to release water.
Less vehicular traffic was witnessed due to poor visibility on many roads, especially in western MP. There were also reports of water-logging in some of the low-lying areas of the state. The IMD has advised people to avoid travelling amid torrential rains.
On Monday, heavy rains pounded Bhopal and adjoining areas. Schools in some districts including Bhopal and Jabalpur remained closed on Monday due to torrential rains, the officials said. The weather forecast had prompted the authorities to issue orders on Sunday evening for the closure of schools.
In the 24-hour period till 8.30 am on Monday, Bhopal received 190.5 mm rainfall, followed by Guna-174.9 mm, Sagar-173.9 mm, Raisen-162 mm and Jabalpur 160 mm, an IMD official said.
Rains coupled with wind uprooted many trees along roadsides in Bhopal, and also caused power supply disruptions in many areas as well as traffic snarls.
Bhopal Municipal Corporation personnel were seen clearing the roads of trees and branches falling on the pathways.
A depression was lying over central parts of MP near Bhopal and Sagar. Hence, very heavy rains are likely to continue in Bhopal, Narmadapuram, Sagar and Gwalior divisions till tonight, senior meteorologist with the IMD's Bhopal Office Ved Prakash Singh said.
The depression is likely to move westwards (towards Guna in MP and Rajasthan).
As a result, Indore and Ujjain divisions are also expected to get moderate to heavy rains by night when the depression over central MP moves westwards, the official said.
The monsoon showers have abated a bit in eastern MP, he said, adding that almost the entire state received rainfall in the last 24 hours. The rain activity is expected to reduce from Tuesday, Singh said.
with agency inputs
