At least 45,000 people have been evacuated to safer areas after flooding in India’s central state of Madhya Pradesh over the last few days.
According to India’s National Emergency Response Centre (NERC), recent flooding has affected the districts of Neemuch, Agarmalwa, Khargone, Barwani, Shajapur, Jhabua, Burhanpur, Ujjain, Ratlam, Dewas and Mandsour. Over 100 relief camps have been set up over the last few days to house the displaced, including 10,000 people in 53 relief camps in Mandsour.
India’s Central Water Commission (CWC) reported on 15 September that a low pressure area has brought extremely heavy rainfall over Madhya Pradesh for the past five days.
NERC said on 15 September that “out of 28 major dams, gates of 19 dams are open. Almost all the major rivers are flowing above or close to danger levels. ”
CWC said as a result of dam releases, the Narmada river at Mortakka in Khargone District is flowing at “Severe Flood Situation.” Likewise the Chambal river was rising in the districts of Jhabua, Ratlam, Ujjain and Mandsaur.
Over 20 people have died in floods or storms in the state since 09 September, according to NERC figures. More than 15,000 homes have been damaged, along with 1.5 million hectares of crops.
State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) along with police and military personnel have been deployed in the flood affected districts of the state.
Over 800 people were rescued from flood water after a massive operation involving NDRF and SDRF crews and boats on 14 September in Ratlam district.
Over 150 people have now died in weather related incidents in Madhya Pradesh since the start of this year’s monsoon. NERC said that rainfall in the has been 33% higher than normal for the monsoon season.
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@ Malhargarh, Distt-Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh#COMMITTED2HELP#COMMITTED2SERVE#NDRF4U@satyaprad1 @PIBHomeAffairs pic.twitter.com/UUhnzrHmdY— NDRF 🇮🇳 (@NDRFHQ) September 15, 2019
