President Ram Nath Kovind condoles deaths due to floods

New Delhi: With heavy rains and floods causing widespread devastation in several states, President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday expressed grief and condoled the death of the families affected.

President Kovind took to Twitter saying, "Nation condoles deaths due to heavy rains and floods in Assam, Gujarat, Rajasthan and other states. Stands by families affected".

Looking at the flood fury increasing in parts of the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh to the next kin of those killed in Gujarat floods, and Rs. 50,000 to those injured.

He had also conducted an aerial survey of the flood affected areas in Gujarat.Several villages in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Assam have been put on red alert. 

Food packets and water bottles have also been dispatched to villages surrounded by water.

In an overview, the floods in Rajasthan has killed scores of people and leaving several hundred homeless.

More than 30,000 people were relocated from low-lying areas while people stranded on rooftops and trees were evacuated.

The situation in flood-ravaged Assam improved considerably as the swollen Brahmaputra and Barak rivers, along with their tributaries, started flowing below the danger mark at most places.

In West Bengal, lowlands in Birbhum, Purulia, West Medinipore and Hooghly districts were inundated.

The Army, Indian Air Force (IAF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and local teams have intensified rescue and relief operations as several parts of the two districts were inundated with flood water.