46,000 families affected by heavy rain in western MP

Bhopal, Sep 16 (IANS) Over 46,000 people from Mandsaur and Neemuch districts were shifted to safer places by late Sunday night as heavy rain continued to lash the western region of Madhya Pradesh, a government spokesperson said.

The two neighbouring districts in western Madhya Pradesh have received incessant rain since last few days and lives have been completely disrupted. The met office has warned of extremely heavy rainfall till Monday morning.

"More than 45,000 people have been rescued from 100 to 125 villages in Mandsaur. Some of these villages have been fully vacated while there has been partial evacuation in others," said Manoj Path joint director of public relations in a message late Sunday evening.

Besides 32,000 families in the catchment area of Indira Sagar and Sardar Sarovar dams are at risk of being inundated with the water rising alarmingly in the two dams. Civil society organisations have appealed to the government of Madhya Pradesh to help rescue the affected families in the Narmada vally.

Nisarpur near Barwani, which was meant to rehabilitate the project affected families, is under submergence with the rain fury continuing unabated. The previous BJP government had apparently grossly underestimated the area to be submerged. The government had in an affidavit claimed before the Supreme Court that it would have completed the evacuation of all.

The BJP would launch state-wide agitation from September 22 if the farmers' who have lost their crops were not compensated by then, former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Sunday evening.

He said the Congress government in the state should reach out to the people affected by the heavy downpour.

Chouhan said the chief minister has not been visible in the state that has seen unprecedented rain over the past five weeks. Chouhan said he was donating one month salary as MLA for the people ravaged by the floods

Meanwhile rescue operations are in full swing, said a state government official from Neemuch.

"We are keeping a close watch on the situation," he added. Nearly 2,300 people were evacuated from the flooded Rampura town in Neemuch district after an alarming rise in the backwater level of Gandhi Sagar Dam in Mandsaur, he said.

Rescuers kept a vigil during the night before bringing the flood-hit people to relief camps on Sunday, he said. Mandsaur received 218 mm rain while Manasa town in Neemuch got 243 mm rain in 24 hours ending Sunday morning, as per the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) office here.

The Mandsaur district received total 1,927.8 mm rain from June 1 till date, against average rainfall of 742.1 mm, the meteorological department said. Neemuch got total 1,569.7 mm rain so far this monsoon against 706.9 mm average, said the met department. After heavy rains, 19 sluice gates of Gandhi Sagar Dam were opened and 4.93 lakh cusec water was being discharged, the dam project's sub-divisional officer N P Dev said.

The released water was gushing downstream to flood parts of Rajasthan. There is no let likely from rain fury in the two districts till Monday evening. Extremely heavy rainfall is forecast in part of Mandsaur, Neemuch, Agar Malwa and Alirajpur regions till Monday. Heavy rainfall might occur at few places in 10 districts including Indore. Rain or thunder showers are likely to occur at most places in around 31 districts of MP including Bhopal by morning.

Intermittent showers on Sunday lashed several parts of Madhya Pradesh, which has so far received 33 per cent more rain than the season's average, the IMD said. The monsoon has weakened a bit in eastern Madhya Pradesh but is active in western parts of the state, IMD Bhopal office's senior meteorologist G D Mishra said.