Rain Havoc: Flood-Like Situation Worsens in Kota, Nearby Areas in Rajasthan

Kota/Jaipur: Flood-like situation in Rajasthan's Kota worsened on Tuesday due to incessant rainfall, officials said.

An Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter has been called to conduct a rescue operation in Baran district while schools in all four districts of Kota division -- Kota, Baran, Jhalawar and Bundi -- have been shut, they said.

Several areas in these districts are waterlogged due to heavy rains and water being released from dams.

On Monday, Kota, Jhalawar and some areas in Bundi and Baran reported flood-like situation.

In Baran district, the water level in Parvati and Parvan river increased on Monday night due to which many low-lying areas faced waterlogging. The water also entered several residential areas.

“Nearly 10 people are stuck in Khurai area. They are surrounded by water and to rescue them, a requisition for a helicopter has been sent to the disaster management and relief department in Jaipur,” Baran collector Narendra Kumar said.

People are also being rescued from other locations in the district and shifted to safer places by teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF).

Jhalawar collector Bharti Dixit said rescue operations are going on at five places in which more than 100 people are being shifted from low-lying areas.

“Almost the entire district is waterlogged,” she said.

Police said a married couple and their three children were injured when their thatched house collapsed in Dug town of Jhalawar early Tuesday. The family of five has been admitted to a local hospital.

Ashutosh AT Pednekar, secretary of the disaster management and relief department, said the helicopter was being provided by the IAF for the rescue operation in Baran.

In Kota, more than 3,500 people were shifted to safer places on Monday.

On Tuesday, 3.50 lakh cusec water was released from Kota barrage till 9.30 am and another 2 lakh cusec is being released, an official said.

Similarly, 5.85 lakh cusec water will be released from Kalisindh dam in Jhalawar on Tuesday, another official informed.

Many villages in the division are cut off from district headquarters due to water logging. Some of the villages near the catchment area of rivers have turned into islands.

In Bundi, Nagar Parishad has cancelled Kajli Teej events to be held on Tuesday and Wednesday in view of the situation.

Meanwhile, during the last 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Tuesday, 29 cm rainfall occurred in Jhalawar’s Dug followed by 26 cm in Arnod (Pratapgarh) and Pidawa (Jhalawar), 23 cm in Bakani (Jhalawar), 17 cm in Gangdhar and Pachpahad (Jhalawar), 16 cm in Aklera (Jhalawar), 15 cm in Asnawar (Jhalawar), 13 cm in Jhalrapatan (Jhalawar).

Many other areas in east Rajasthan received below 13 cm rains during this period.

There is a warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall in Banswara and Dungarpur districts and heavy rainfall in Bhilwara and Chittorgarh district on Tuesday.

MP: Relief Operations in Flood-Hit Vidisha

Bhopal: The Indian Air Force will deploy two helicopters for relief operations in Madhya Pradesh's flood-hit Vidisha district, officials said on Tuesday.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will also conduct an aerial survey of the rain-affected district on Tuesday, they said.

Many parts of MP, including Bhopal, witnessed heavy downpour over the last few days, leading to power supply disruptions in the state capital and other places.

Rains stopped in Bhopal on Tuesday and the power supply was restored after more than 24 hours in parts of the city, which had witnessed tree falls and traffic snarls over the last couple of days due to heavy showers and strong winds blowing at up to 40 km per hour, officials said.

After the long power cut in Bhopal, MP central zone power distribution company called in its workers from neighbouring districts to restore supply in the capital city, an official said.

Some residents complained they faced power outage for more than 30 hours.

Schools in some districts including Bhopal and Vidisha remained closed for the second day on Tuesday, officials said.

The IAF is going to deploy two helicopters for relief operations in Vidisha, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Rajesh Rajora told PTI.

CM Chouhan reviewed the rain situation late Monday night and he is scheduled to conduct an aerial survey of Vidisha district on Tuesday, the Chief Minister's Office said.

In the 24-hour period till 8.30 am on Tuesday, Bhopal received 171.7 mm rainfall, while Berasia town of Bhopal district received 209 mm, an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said.

Amid the heavy rains on Monday night, Chouhan inspected the work of power supply restoration around midnight in the Civil Lines area of Bhopal.

The CM also reviewed the rain situation with ministers and senior officials at the Raja Bhoj Airport here after Union Home Minister Amit Shah left for Delhi around 11.30 pm on Monday.

Shah was in the city on Monday and participated in various programmes.

After midnight, Chouhan held a meeting with senior officials at the state secretariat and spoke to the district collectors of various flood hit districts including Narmadapuram, Vidisha and Guna.

The officials informed in the meeting that in the last 24 hours, the State Disaster Emergency Response Force and the National Disaster Response Force together rescued 190 people in Vidisha, 103 in Rajgarh, 94 in Ashoknagar, seven in Raisen, five in Jabalpur, three each in Mandla and Guna and two in Sidhi.

The depression lying over central parts of MP near Bhopal and Sagar has moved towards Rajasthan and weakened.

Moderate to heavy rains with low intensity are likely in Neemuch, Mandsaur and Ratlam, bordering Rajasthan, senior meteorologist with the IMD's Bhopal Office Ved Prakash Singh told PTI.

Light showers are likely in remaining parts of the state for the next three days, he said.

In the 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am on Tuesday, Jeerapur in Guna district received the highest 294 mm rainfall, followed by Aalot in Ratlam district -283 mm, Nalkheda in Agar Malwa-253 mm and Sehore -240 mm, an IMD official said.

Bhopal, Vidisha, Rajgarh, Guna, Dewas, Betul and Chhindwara have received excessive rainfall so far, according to the IMD office here.