Jammu, Sept 04: After monsoon floods hit Mumbai, incessant rains in Orissa, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and parts of Rajashtan have led to flooding and destruction on a mass scale. More than 20 lakh people have been marooned and over 500 people have lost their lives in the flood wave.
Rains lashed other parts of the country as well, and weather officials said the downpour over north and eastern India will likely continue.
More rains forecast, chaos prevails in Orissa
Chaos prevailed in Orissa`s
flood-hit Kendrapara district with relief materials yet to
reach the villages marooned by flood water.
The situation may worsen further with another low
pressure threatening to open the sky on coastal districts.
Latest satellite pictures indicated that yesterday`s low
pressure area over north-east of the Bay of Bengal now lay
centered over north-west of the bay, Met office sources said.
The system is likely to be more marked.
The weather is likely to remain squally with wind speed
reaching between 45 km and 55 km. Under its influence, heavy
rains lashed all over the district last evening.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who made an aerial survey
of Kendrapara district and reviewed the flood situation there,
directed the district administration to provide relief
materials to the affected people for the next seven days.
Reports from the district said that relief material
could not be reached to Marshaghai and Mahakalapada blocks due
to lack of adequate boats. A rescue team could not reach most
of the water-logged areas as flood water breached the NH-5 a
at Chhagaria.
Moreover, flattened rice and jaggery were being snatched
away on way to the affected region, a government official
said.
Addressing a daily media briefing here at the State
Secretariat, Chief Secretary Subash Pani claimed that relief
material had reached all villages except two gram panchayats -
Antei and Kuhudi.
Over 400 villages have remained surrounded by flood
water and the number of affected people has risen to more than
four lakh.
Six dead, thousands stranded in J&K floods
Schools and colleges were on Sunday
ordered closed for two days in Jammu and Kashmir where the
flood situation worsened with six persons dead and thousands
marooned after incessant downpours inundated low-lying areas
and water levels of major rivers rose sharply.
The Army and Air Force were put on standby for flood
relief and closure of schools and colleges ordered by Chief
Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad who convened a special Cabinet
meeting to review the grim flood situation.
Incessant rains have spawned floods and cut off Kashmir
valley from the rest of the country for the third consecutive
day as traffic on Srinagar-Jammu and Srinagar-Leh National
Highways remained suspended due to landslides.
Over 2,000 passengers were stranded at various places on
the arterial roads while 1,500 were marooned at Chatel village
in Kulgam district after flood waters entered their locality.
Six members of a family, including two women and two
children, were killed when their house collapsed due to rains
in Kathua district. One was rescued from the debris.
Another 200 people including 100 patients were evacuated
after flood waters entered Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical
Sciences in Srinagar and shifted to Soura Medical Institute.
The river Jhelum was flowing 9 feet above the danger mark
at Sangam in Anantnag, submerging parts of Awantipora and
Charsoo, and had crossed the red mark at Ram Munshi Bagh in
Srinagar by 4 ft, inundating Kursoo Rajbagh, Padshahibagh,
Soiteng and Lasjan, officials said.
The water level of the Dal Lake was also rising, posing a
threat to Nishat, Shalimar, brain and adjoining areas.
Meanwhile, the meteorological department has forecast
more rains in almost all places in next two days.
Rains batter Madhya Pradesh
Incessant rains battered Madhya Pradesh claiming seven more lives while army was called out and choppers pressed into service to rescue the marooned in Rajasthan as widespread showers drenched vast swathes of North India today.
Seven more perished in downpours in Madhya Pradesh since last evening pushing the number of fatalities in heavy monsoon rains in the state to 134.
Gushing waters of rain-swollen rivers washed away bridges and culverts as an alert was sounded in capital Bhopal where schools were shut and offices reported thin attendance.
Flight operations were hit at Raja Bhoj airport owing to waterlogging which also snapped vital road links as normal life in the state was thrown out of gear.
Flood situation grim in Rajasthan
In Rajasthan, torrential rains triggered flooding in Hadauti region in Jahalawar district prompting authorities to call out army and requisition choppers to rescue the marooned.
Rains submerged several villages as 35 people perched on a hilly terrain were rescued this morning, Rajasthan Relief Secretary R K Meena told a press conference in Jaipur.
Rains also lashed Pink city and adjoining sub-urban towns since last night. Jaipur recorded 40 mm of rains.
Flood alert in 31 Gujarat villages
Authorities today sounded a flood alert in at least 31 villages of Narmada district due to a rise in the water level of Narmada River, official sources said.
The 31 villages in Nandod and Tulkwada talukas, all located on the banks of Narmada river, were alerted as the water level in the Sardar Sarovar dam at Kevadiya, about 110 km from Vadodara, touched the danger mark, Narmada district official sources told.
They attributed the sudden water rise to heavy rains in the catchment areas of dams in neighbouring Madhya pradesh.
J&K asks officials to submit report on floods
Jammu and Kashmir government has sought details of flood related damages from all concerned Deputy Commissioners of the districts in the Valley.
Divisional Commissioner (Kashmir) Basharat Ahmad Dhar has directed all the deputy commissioners of the valley to prepare and submit a detailed report regarding damage rendered to human lives, standing crops, live stock, road communication and other infrastructure due to flash floods.
Incessant rains across the state have caused one of the worst floods in the state in the past few decades, in which eight persons have been killed and more than 150 villages
inundated causing huge loss to live stock.
Meanwhile, School Education Minister and state Congress Chief Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed visited various flood affected areas of Anantnag district today to take stock of the
situation.
Sayeed alongwith several other ministers have been deputed by Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to oversee the rescue and relief operations in the state.
Bureau Report
