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Flood-like situation in Gwalior-Chambal region in MP; helicopters pressed for rescue

About 350 villages in Shivpuri, Guna, Sheopur marooned as rivers swell

rain-situation-mp An image of rainfall situation in MP as on August 2, released by Regional Meteorological Centre, Bhopal

Continuous heavy rainfall has led to flood-like situation in the Gwalior-Chambal region of Madhya Pradesh, requiring Air Force helicopters to be pressed to rescue in Shivpuri district where nearly 1,500 people in three villages were trapped in rising waters of River Parvati.

Two children – one each from Guna and Bhind – were reported dead in rain-related incidents, according to sources. Rivers like Kuno, Parvati, Sindh and Kwari are overflowing, marooning the villages in Guna, Sheopur Kalan and Shivpuri districts.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan spoke to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and requested him for five helicopters for rescue work. The CM tweeted to say that three helicopters have already been sent to the spot and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams were already carrying out rescue operations. Chouhan said he was continuously monitoring the situation and all necessary measures will be taken. 

Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who hails from Gwalior, also spoke to the defence ministry over the issue.

Meanwhile, the weather office has warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall (between 115-204mm in 24 hours) in parts of the Gwalior-Chambal region till Tuesday morning and issued a red alert for the area. Also, an orange alert of heavy rain has been issued for districts of Ujjain and Bhopal divisions and Chhatarpur, Niwari, Tikamgarh, Sagar and Hoshangabad districts.

The state has been experiencing medium to heavy rainfall in several parts since the past week, leading to flood-like situations in several areas. On Sunday, six persons were reported killed in Rewa and Singrauli districts in different rain-related incidents.

During the past 24 hours (ending at 8.30am on Monday), Sheopur Kalan received the highest 115.0mm of rainfall, followed by Guna (106.8mm), Tikamgarh (91.0mm), Nowgaon (80.2mm), Pachmarhi (61.0mm), Gwalior (57.4mm) and Bhopal city (50.5 mm). Many other parts of the state also received considerable rainfall. Further, between 8.30am and 5.30pm on Monday, Guna received 55.0mm,  Pachmarhi - 43.0 and Gwalior another 21.8mm of rainfall.

In Shivpuri district, Vijaypur town and villages like Harrai, Barkheda and Silpari have been especially affected, requiring helicopters for rescue. Road connectivity of the districts with neighbouring Rajasthan has been cut off due to overflowing rivers.

However, due to the continuing showers, the rainfall situation has improved considerably in the state during the past two weeks. By the third week of July, the state had been reduced to a deficient rain situation overall, but as on August 2, average rainfall in Madhya Pradesh is nine per cent more than expected. 

The state has received 496.6mm of rainfall from June 1 till date against the expected 454.5mm. Sidhi district has received the highest excess of 89 per cent while Shajapur has received 85 per cent excess rain. Khargone and Damoh are facing the highest shortfall of 33 per cent each. Bhopal has received 13 per cent excess rain, but Indore is 19 per cent short, though meteorologically the district is in a normal rainfall situation.

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