Rain fury in MP: 7 killed in 24 hrs

BHOPAL: Incessant rain wreaked havoc in Madhya Pradesh with swollen rivers breaching banks and flooding arterial roads across the state and killing at least seven people during past 24 hours. The worst-hit districts include Vidisha, Raisen, Jabalpur and Mandla. More than 3,000 people have been evacuated to safer areas in Vidisha.
In Sidhi district, Digivijay Singh, who was a resident of Rewa.Singh, went for a picnic. He drowned in Son river in Sidhi district. In the same district, a youth was killed after lightning struck him. A youth was swept away in Bamhori area in Raisen district and a seven-year-old boy Deepak washed away in Shivpuri district.
A middle-aged man died after a wall of his house collapsed in Sironj town of Vidisha district. In Mandla, a youth was washed away and lightning snuffed out life of a woman.
Narmada, the main river of the state is in spate. Sluice gates of nine of 16 dams have opened to avert untoward incident due to flooding. Bargi, Tawa and other dams are close to full-tank levels. Guna district received maximum rainfall of 53mm in the state on Sunday. "It is raining continuously, but there is no flood-like situation. We are alert," said Guna collector Rakesh Kumar Jain.
Among other districts, which received heavy rainfall on Sunday include Chhatarpur (51 mm), Sheopur (36 mm), Bhopal (39 mm), Satna (31 mm), Damoh (30 mm), Sagar (24 mm), Naugaon (20 mm) and Ratlam (22 mm). "Betwa river is in spate and Ashok Nagar-Vidisha Road is cut off from the state. Since Saturday, we have shifted around 3000 people from low-lying areas to safer places, mostly in government school buildings," Vidisha district collector M B Ojha told TOI.In Raisen, several areas of the district are facing flood-like situation. Traffic on roads linking Raisen and Vidisha, Sagar with Bhopal, Silwani with Bareli is affected due to overflowing rivers. Betwa, Tedoni and Bamhori rivers are in spate. Eastern MP continued to experience heavy rain for the second consecutive day in districts of Jabalpur and Mandla. An alert has been sounded in Jabalpur and nearby areas. Low-lying areas on Narmada banks are already flooded, sources said. Downpour has triggered inundation and cut off many areas, but most ground water sources, which dipped to an alarming level before monsoon, have been recharged.
Before the monsoon, a survey by Central Goundwater Board revealed a sharp dip in almost three-fourths wells of Madhya Pradesh and the drop had been worsening for the past one decade. After fresh rains in upstream of Narmada, all 16 sluice gates of Bargi dam were opened releasing 1.5 lakh cusec water. Sluice gates of Tawa were also opened. In downstream, all sluice gates of Indira Sagar project and Omkareshwar were opened, submerging all ghats of Omkareshwar town, where one of the Jyotirlingam is situated. Monday being an auspicious day in the wake of month of Shravan, a large number of pilgrims are expected in Omkareshwar.
Following incessant rains in its catchment area, Narmada water in Hoshangabad is also rising. Hoshangabad district collector Sanket Bhondve said, "It takes 36 hours to reach water from Bargi to Hoshangabad. Though river is in spate, it is much below the danger mark . We will review the situation on Monday again." He said, "In view of preventive measure after Raigad incident leading to causalities in Maharashtra, we have written to principal secretary PWD and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Bhopal for review and audit of the main Narmada bridge in Hoshangabad and for the review and audit of other culverts and bridges where Narmada and its tributaries flow." Similarly, Vidisha collector NB Ojha wrote government to get "physical audit" of bridges in Vidisha where Betwa is in spate.
Sanket also said, "Hoshangabad is flood prone district and we have made an effective disaster management plan. To ensure its implementation, we have also increased resources." Repeated flooding of Betwa in Vidisha has damaged 100-year-old bridge connecting Ashoknagar and Vidisha.
Met department issued alert for heavy rains for Guna, Jabalpur, Vidisha, Rajgarh, Hoshangabad, Balaghat, Bhopal, Mandla, Agar, Raisen, Sagar,Dewas, Indore, Shajapur, Ujjain, Dindori, and Khandwa districts.