Officials say at least 40 people have died and hundreds of thousands have been evacuated as floods hit vast swathes of central and eastern India.
Disaster management officials said Monday that days of heavy rain have caused the Ganges River and its tributaries to rise above the danger mark during the last 48 hours in some 20 districts of the states of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Flooded houses are pictured at a residential area in Allahabad. Flooding in India has killed at least 40 people, officials say. They said at least 17 people died in Madhya Pradesh, 14 in Bihar and nine in Uttar Pradesh from drowning, electrocution and injuries from house collapses.
The movement of trains has been stopped between Chapra and Balia because of submerged railway tracks at many places.The surging water of the Rivers Sone and Punpun have spread to the low lying areas of Jahanabad and Arwal districts.
In Uttar Pradesh, the flood situation in the eastern parts is grim. The River Ganga is rising in many places, including in Allahabad and Varanasi.The army has been kept on standby to possible rescue and rehabilitation efforts in Allahabad.Both the Ganga and Yamuna Rivers are rising continuously in the district and people have been told to vacate their homes and move to safer places.Over 100 villages are facing a critical flood situation in the district. So far, about 10,000 people have taken shelter in relief camps.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is also engaged in Ballai and Banda districts after recieiving information on rising water levels.Besides Allahabad, the waters of the River Ganga are reportedly rising in Varanasi, Ballia and Mirzapur districts, while the waters of the Yamuna are rising trend in Banda, Mathura and Allahabad.
After the release of water from the dam, the Betwa River is also on spate in Hamirpur district.
In Rajasthan, incessant rains in the south eastern districts have affected normal life. Several over bridges have been submerged in water, bringing road traffic on these routes to a grinding halt.A maximum of 26 centimetres of rainfall has been recorded at the Jakham Dam in the state’s Pratapgarh district.Places like Nimbaheda, Badi Sadri and Bhadesar have received 22 centimeters of rainfall in the last 24 hours.The districts of Chittorgarh, Baran, Dungarpur, Banswara and Jhalawar have also experienced good rainfall.An alert has been sounded in nearby areas of Chambal river in Karauli following an increase in water levels.
In Madhya Pradesh, torrential rains have lashed western parts even as relief works have gained momentum in Bundelkhand and Vindhya regions.Normal life has been affected in Guna, Rajgarh, Shivpuri, Mandsour, Ujjain and other parts of western Madhya Pradesh. Major rivers, including Retam, Chambal, Shivna, Kshipra and Sindh are in spate.
