Bhopal, Jul 30 (PTI) Nearly 2,900 people, including 27 schoolchildren, have been rescued from various districts in Madhya Pradesh by the Army and other authorities after heavy rains battered the state and caused inundation, officials said on Wednesday.
A flood-like situation prevailed in Shivpuri district after heavy rains, prompting authorities to call the Army for rescue and relief work. A similar situation was also seen in Guna district, where a bridge on a culvert caved-in, they said.
People from several villages in Guna have been asked to move to safer places.
Due to heavy rains, Dindori, Vidisha, Jabalpur, Narmadapuram, Alirajpur, Rajgarh and Betul districts were also witnessing a flood-like situation and rapid relief and rescue operations were being carried out by the administration, as per the officials.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav gathered information about the flood situation from officials at the Home Guard headquarters and gave necessary instructions to collectors and other officials of the rain-hit districts.
Nearly 2,900 persons have been rescued (in last two days) from various districts, including Morena, Damoh, Raisen, Guna, Ashoknagar, Shivpuri, Sagar and Vidisha, he told reporters.
“We will provide full help to the (flood) victims. The government will make all arrangements, including of food, shelter and clothing. This weather condition is going to remain for two to four more days. We are alerting people,” Yadav said.
The government is prepared to help the flood-hit people. Helicopters have been sought from the Defence Ministry for two districts and they will be deployed soon, he said.
The Army on Wednesday rescued 27 schoolchildren who were stranded while returning home in a bus due to a sudden rise in the water level of the Sindh river following heavy rains in Badarwas area of Shivpuri district, another official said.
These 27 students, studying in Rising Souls School at Badarwas, were returning home in the bus, but due to the sudden rise in the river level, they got stranded on Tuesday near Pachavali village after a bridge got flooded, he said.
According to him, the children were residents of nearby villages, including Kundyai and Bijrauni.
Kolaras Sub-Divisional Officer (SDOP) Sanjay Mishra said, “It became impossible for the bus to cross the bridge due to strong currents of the Sindh river near Pachavali and hence the children had to be stopped there.” He said given the seriousness of the situation, help was sought from the Army, which immediately sent a team and rescued all the children using a boat.
Another officer said when the Panchavali sarpanch got information, he brought all the students to his house and arranged for their food and stay at night.
He said the children were able to meet their family members after more than 30 hours.
After being rescued safely, the children raised slogans of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Vande Mataram’.
Kolaras MLA Mahendra Yadav, who reached the spot, thanked the Army and the administration for the safe evacuation of the children.
The IMD has issued an alert of heavy rain in many districts in the next 24 hours. It has predicted 8 to 9 inches of rain in several districts over the next one day, including Bhopal, Vidisha, Narmadapuram, Raisen, Sehore, Ashoknagar, Guna, Shivpuri and Rajgarh.
Due to continuous rain and overflowing rivers and streams, many villages of Shivpuri district have been inundated. In view of the situation, the district administration called the Army from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday night, the officials said.
More than 250 people were shifted to safer places in the Kolaras assembly constituency.
Kolaras SDM Anoop Srivastava said an Army team was evacuating stranded villagers and also providing food items and essential relief materials to the needy.
Major Shivam Ganguly, who was commanding the relief and rescue operation, said two of their teams were engaged in relief work in different areas and a medical team was also deployed.
In Guna district, due to a flood-like situation in the tribal-dominated Bamori block, residents of eight villages have been advised to move to safer places.
Guna Collector Kishore Kanyal said due to the damage caused to the Kalora dam at Bamori, people from Singapur, Tumda, Kudka, Bandha, Umradha and Baniyani villages have been advised to shift to safer places.
Chief Minister Yadav said, “Our government will make arrangements for everything — from food to clothes — for the flood victims.” The CM said he inspected rescue centres across the state on Wednesday from the Home Guard Flood Disaster Centre in Bhopal.
Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia spoke to the collectors of Guna, Shivpuri and Ashoknagar districts through video conference late Tuesday night and directed them to immediately provide food, pure drinking water and medical facilities in the affected areas.
“No laxity or delay in relief and rescue operations will be accepted,” he said in a post on X.
All departments concerned were instructed to work in coordination so that no family is deprived of relief, Scindia noted.
Scindia said he was in constant touch with Union Home and Defence Ministries and regular information about the situation was also being shared with CM Yadav.
“Central and state governments are fully committed to conduct the relief operations smoothly,” he asserted. PTI MAS COR GK RSY
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