All schools in 11 districts of Madhya Pradesh closed on Monday, orange alert issued over incessant rainfall

ANI Photo

Bhopal: As many as 11 districts of Madhya Pradesh have declared a holiday for all government and private on Monday due to incessant rainfall lashing parts of the state since Saturday evening. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in at least 32 districts of the state for Monday.

An orange alert, detonating the likelihood of heavy rainfall and directing the authorities to be prepared for any untoward incident, has been sounded in these 32 districts including Bhopal, Sagar, Harda, Raisen, Vidisha, Sehore, Rajgarh, Baitul, Devas, and Ashoknagar among others.

The District Magistrates of Bhopal, Sagar, Harda, Raisen, Vidisha, Mandla, Balaghat, Jabalpur, Seoni, Ujjain, and Narsinghpur have declared a holiday for all private and government schools in their respective districts seeing the torrential downpour happening for the past two days.

A low-pressure area has formed over northeast Madhya Pradesh and neighbourhood and associated cyclonic circulation is extending up to 7.6 km above mean sea level tilting southwestwards with height, the IMD said in its All India Weather Bulletin.

Strong winds, with speed reaching 40-50 kmph, are likely to prevail over southwest and adjoining west-central Arabian Sea on Monday, the IMD said.

In Bhopal, excessive rainfall, occurring since Saturday night, led to flooding in several parts of the district. An IMD notification said that Bhopal received 62.1 millimetres of rain between 8:30 am and 5:30 pm on Sunday. At least five out of 13 gates of Kaliasote reservoir in the capital city have been opened due to heavy rains. Gates of Bhadbhada dam were also opened seeing the overflowing of state rivers due to continuous rainfall.

According to news agency ANI, a two-year-old girl died after falling into an overflowing drain in Phanda village of Bhopal on Sunday due to torrential downpour. "She was found caught in a net in the drain. She was declared dead on arrival by hospital authorities," officials said.

The situation in Madhya Pradesh is likely to remain grim as IMD has forecasted no relief from heavy rainfall till Tuesday.