Several areas in MP, UP, C’garh hit by floods
   Date :30-Aug-2020

Daya river following rele
 A view of a village temple submerged in floodwater near the Daya river following release of floodwater from Mahanadi river due to continuous rainfall in Odisha, at Itipur in Khrordha on Friday. (ANI)
 
 
NEW DELHI ;
 
Red alert has been issued by the IMD in parts of MP, C’garh and Odisha 
 
SEVERAL areas in Madhya Pradesh were inundated following torrential rains in the state, while in Uttar Pradesh as many as 792 villages in 16 districts were affected by floods on Saturday. In Odisha, 44 of the Hirakud Dam’s 64 sluice gates have been opened since Friday due to heavy rainfall in the Mahanadi’s catchment areas in Chhattisgarh.
 
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert forecasting more extremely heavy rains in many areas of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. In Delhi, the Yamuna was flowing precariously close to the warning mark in the morning, but the water level is expected to recede, officials said. Water was being released into the Yamuna at the rate of 7.173 cusec at 8 am from the Hathnikund barrage in Haryana’s Yamunanagar district. In Madhya Pradesh, torrential rains over the last two days triggered flooding in several districts, including Hoshangabad, where the army and the NDRF were roped in to rescue people from inundated areas.
 
Sehore and Chhindwara districts also continued to be lashed by heavy rains. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan conducted an aerial survey of the inundated areas of Hoshangabad and Sehore districts and the hailstorm-hit parts along the Narmada river for one-and-a-half hours on Saturday, according to officials. The IMD issued a red alert of extremely heavy rainfall with thunderstorm and lightning at isolated places of Chhindwara, Vidisha, Sehore, Rajgarh and Shajapur districts. Heavy downpour in the Mahanadi’s upper catchment areas in Chhattisgarh, forced authorities to open 44 sluice gates of the Hirakud Dam in neighbouring Odisha. Heavy rains battered several parts of Chhattisgarh over the last two days, creating a flood-like situation.
 
Nearly 12,000 houses in various districts of the state were partially or completely damaged due to the incessant rainfall and thousands of people were shifted to relief camps, according to officials. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel chaired a meeting on Friday night with all District Collectors and Superintendents of Police through video-conferencing to assess the situation and take stock of relief measures being undertaken in flooded areas, a public relations department official said on Saturday. In Uttar Pradesh, light to moderate rainfall occurred at some places, the Meteorological Department said. The flood-affected districts in the State are Ambedkarnagar, Ayodhya, Azamgarh, Bahraich, Ballia, Barabanki, Basti, Deoria, Farrukhabad, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Lakhimpur Khiri, Mau, Shahjahanpur and Sitapur. According to the office of the relief commissioner, of 792 villages hit by the deluge, 437 villages are completely flooded. The country has so far recorded nine-per cent more rainfall than normal.