Sea change: Drought fear in July, deluge in August

JAIPUR/KOTHKHAWDA/LALSOTH: At least 12 rain-related deaths took place in the state on Monday at different places even as the state witnessed moderate rain after a spell of heavy downpour in the past few days.
At Kalmanda village, Baran district, seven persons of a family died after a wall collapsed in the evening. Three were rescued. "The family was having dinner when a portion of their house collapsed on them.The injured were treated at the primary health centre and are now safe. A one-year-old girl was among the deceased," said Anil Paris Deshmukh, SP, Baran.
Three students drowned in Anasagar Lake in Ajmer. In a separate incident, two minors, a boy and girl, drowned in rain-fed rivers in two different villages in Lalsoth tehsil in Dausa district on Monday.
All schools will remain closed in Chaksu area. However, schools in Jaipur will reopen from Tuesday. Following heavy rain forecast, district administration in Jaipur had asked schools not to function for a day. Most of the water bodies, including Bisalpur dam, are overflowing. Kotkhawda and Thikariya Gujran villages near Chaksu on Jaipur outskirts were affected by flash floods and the area witnessed more rain by the evening.Jaipur residents panicked as nearby rivers and dams were swelling.
Relentless rainfall compounded people's miseries with flood-like situation prevailing since Sunday. The region's villages stood marooned and their connectivity with the National Highway was cut off at several places.
After the heavy downpour on Sunday, the district administration evacuated 3,500 people from 10 villages in low lying areas. The rescue operations continued on Monday. Mahesh Sharma, sub-divisional magistrate, said, "Army deployment will continue in the area. Houses in the villages have been evacuated."
At Kothkhawda village near Chaksu on outskirts of Jaipur, army personnel were pumping out water. There was relief as water started receding on Monday. But it started raining again late in the evening. Army personnel have been deployed at Gujjar Ka Baas, another village near Chaksu.
"The scene was this bad way back in 1981. We were literally disconnected from Jaipur for the past three days," said Vikas Meena, a resident of Thikariya Gujran village. In Dausa district near Lalsoth, more than 250 villages are submerged. However, rescue teams are yet to reach there.