Madhya Pradesh: 10 dead, 11,000 rescued as rains abate in state

Ten people have been killed in the last two days in rain-related incidents across Madhya Pradesh while 11,000 people have been evacuated from rain-hit districts to safer places with the Army, IAF and NDRF joining the rescue operations, officials said on Sunday.

In a respite, rains abated during the day in many areas that were earlier pounded by torrential showers over the last two days.

The rain casualties have been reported from Katni, Chhatarpur, Raisen and Sehore in the last 36 hours, officials said.

"11,000 have been evacuated to safer places across the state," said Manish Rastogi, principal secretary to chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

No one is stranded now due to flooding in the entire state, Rastogi, who is also MP Revenue Commissioner, told PTI.

He said a total of 257 people, including 193 from Sehore, 61 from Raisen and three from Balaghat, were airlifted to safer places with the help of IAF (Indian Air Force) choppers during the day.

He said personnel of the the Army and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) joined massive rescue operations with boats and other gear.

"Those who remained stuck in water in various areas moved to safer places as water levels of rivers and nullahs started receding," he added.

On the second consecutive day, CM Chouhan conducted the aerial survey of flooded areas in Harda, Hoshangabad, Sehore, Raisen and Vidisha districts.

A newly-constructed bridge was washed away in raging waters of overflowing Wainganga river in Seoni district.

According to officials, the level various of water bodies has started receding in view of little or no rainfall in their catchment areas.

"However, the Narmada river is still flowing above its danger mark in Hoshangabad district," they added.

Earlier in the day, Chouhan told reporters that at least eight people had died in incidents of wall collapse and in swollen nullahs.

The CM said he had spoken with Prime Minister Narendra Modi this morning to inform him about the situation in the state.

A Bhopal municipal corporation officer said a man was killed when compound fell on his slum collapsed this evening under Kolar police station limits.

The wall could not withstand 112 mm rainfall in Bhopal in the last 24 hours ending 8.30 am on Sunday, he said.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued orange and yellow alerts in afternoon predicting very heavy and heavy rains in eight districts in Madhya Pradesh.

The alerts are valid till Monday morning.

For the first time in the last three days, the Met department didn't issue a red alert of extremely heavy rainfall in the state.

The orange alert warned of very heavy rainfall and thunderstorm with lightning strikes at isolated places in Barwani, Jhabua and Alirajpur districts.

The yellow alert warned of heavy rainfall and thunderstorm along with lightning at isolated places in Ratlam, Neemuch, Mandsaur, Dhar and Ujjain districts.

IMD Bhopal centre's meteorologist Hari Shankar Pandey said in evening the low-pressure area causing heavy rainfall lies over eastern Rajasthan, adjoining western MP.

Heavy rainfall is expected in Indore, Ujjain, Shajapur, Ratlam, Dewas, Jhabua, Alirajpur, Mandsaur and Neemuch in the next 24 hours.