Swollen Kaliasot river after sluice gates of Kheda Dam were opened following heavy rainfall in Bhopal Saturday Aug. 29 2020. (Photo | PTI)
Swollen Kaliasot river after sluice gates of Kheda Dam were opened following heavy rainfall in Bhopal Saturday Aug. 29 2020. (Photo | PTI)

MP rain: One killed in house collapse at Sehore, 60 rescued by IAF chopper

In the last two days, heavy rains pounded nine districts of the state, including Hoshangabad, Sehore, Chhindwara and Narshinghpur, leading to a rise in the level of the Narmada river at some places.

BHOPAL: A 35-year-old womanwas killed and three others were injuredwhen a house collapsed after heavy rains at Sehore in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday, while nearly 60 stranded people were airlifted from a village in the district by an IAF helicopter, officials said.

Following heavy showers in several parts of Madhya Pradesh in the last couple of days, nearly 7,000 people have so far been rescued across the state and 170 relief camps are set up in the affected districts, said Manish Rastogi, the principal secretary to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Water level of the Narmada river, which flows across various districts of the state, has not risen further on Sunday, he said.

In the last two days, heavy rains pounded nine districts of the state, including Hoshangabad, Sehore, Chhindwara and Narshinghpur, leading to a rise in the level of the Narmada river at some places.

A house in Ashta area of Sehore district collapsed around 3.10 am on Sunday, killing a woman, identified as Ruksar Bi, a police official said.

Three others who were trapped under the debris of the collapsed house were later pulled out and admitted to a hospital, he said.

An Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter rescued 60 people from a village in the district, Rastogi said.

Three IAF helicopters have been pressed in evacuation works, he said, adding that one more chopper would join in the rescue operation shortly.

An Army column comprising 70 personnel is deployed in Hoshangabad and five more columns of the defence force are going to join in, said Rastogi, who is also the state's revenue commissioner.

Torrential rains over the last two days triggered flooding in several districts of the state, including Hoshangabad, where the Army and the NDRF were roped in on Saturday to rescue people from inundated areas, officials said.

Sehore and Chhindwara districts also continue to be lashed by heavy rains, which sent water bodies in these regions into spate, they said.

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, officials said.

Hoshangabad received 208 mm rainfall in the last 24 hours ending 8.30 am Saturday.

In the same period, the famous hill station of Pachmarhi in Hoshangabad district and Chhindwara received 228 mm and 142 mm downpour respectively, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Due to flooding, several people reportedly got stranded at different places, especially in Hoshangbad and Sehore districts.

Talking to PTI over phone, Hoshangabad divisional commissioner Rajnish Shrivastava previously said that the Army had been called in to help the district administration to effectively deal with the flood situation.

"Following heavy rains, the water level of the Narmada river in Hoshangabad district has gone above 978 metres as against the primary danger level of 964 metres. Many areas in Hoshangabad city were flooded with up to six to eight feet of water," he added.

"The rural areas in the distrit are lso facing a similar situation, which is why we had to call the Army," he added.

Due to the downpour, sluice gates of several dams across the state have been opened to release water, officials said.

Meanwhile, 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.

It also issued an orange alert warning that very heavy rainfall and thunderstorm with lightning is likely at isolated places of 17 districts, including Bhopal and Indore besides Hoshangabad division.

Its yellow alert said that heavy rainfall is likely at a few places in four districts including Guna and Shivpuri.

These alerts are valid till Sunday morning.

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