Floods wreak havoc in Gujarat, Rajasthan as Assam recovers; Narendra Modi inspects home state

Heavy rains since Friday have caused floods and flood-like situations across India, killing scores of people and leaving several hundreds homeless. While some states like Gujarat and Rajasthan are seeing a rising death toll because of the extreme weather, the situation is reportedly improving in other states like Assam .

More than 30,000 people were relocated from low-lying areas in Gujarat while people stranded on rooftops and trees were evacuated in Rajasthan on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted an aerial survey of the flood-hit districts in Gujarat, and announced a Rs 500-crore relief package for immediate assistance in addition to Rs 2 lakh compensation to the kin of the 83 people who have died so far.

Reviewed the flood situation in parts of Gujarat. Assured all possible support from Centre to deal with this situation. pic.twitter.com/PO4D6WCPUF

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 25, 2017

Modi told reporters, “In such situations, it is the farmers who suffer the most. Insurance companies may be advised to quickly organise assessment of damage to crops and assets of farmers and initiate immediate steps to settle the claims.” During the last 24 hours, at least 12 talukas of Banaskantha, Patan and Sabarkantha districts received over 200 mm of rainfall, a release issued by the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) said.

In Rajasthan, six persons, including two children, were killed in rain-related incidents on Tuesday and over 100 people have been rescued from various rain-hit regions. Rescue operations are being carried out in flood-hit Jalore, Sirohi and Pali districts.

Nineteen people were rescued from Jalore on Tuesday including seven who had taken shelter on a tree to escape the swirling waters, PTI reported.

In a positive development, the situation in flood-ravaged Assam improved considerably as the swollen Brahmaputra and Barak rivers, along with their tributaries, started flowing below the danger mark at most places, PTI reported.

In West Bengal, lowlands in Birbhum, Purulia, West Medinipore and Hooghly districts were inundated. With the meteorological department predicting more rains in the Gangetic region of the state in the next 24 hours, chief minister Mamata Banerjee held a monitoring meeting with senior officials at the secretariat this afternoon.

However, she said there is no flood-like situation in the state yet.

In the neighbouring coastal state of Odisha , extremely heavy rains and thundershowers, along with high-speed surface winds, hit the region on Tuesday due to the formation of a low pressure area over the region. With the water level in three of the major rivers of north Odisha crossing the danger mark on Tuesday, the authorities in Keonjhar, Bhadrak and Jajpur districts have stepped up their preparedness for rescue-and-relief operations, said officials.

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik had ealier on Monday asked the administration to evacuate people these low-lying areas due to incessant rain in the region.

Incessant rains continued to disrupt normal life in several parts of Jharkhand with many rivers, including Damodar, Konar and Siwane, in spate. The district administrations of Ranchi, East Singhbhum, Hazaribagh, Bokaro and Giridih have declared a holiday on Wednesday for students up to Class VIII in view of incessant rains, PTI reported.

In Bihar, light rainfall occurred at a few places in the northern part of the state, while heavy showers were witnessed at a few places in the south west, an IMD bulletin said.

The national capital, too, witnessed scattered rains that brought the mercury down. The maximum temperature settled at 32.5 degrees Celsius, two notches below the season’s average.

State governments experiencing extreme weather have dispatched local disaster relief forces, and with the help of National Disaster Response Force, are trying and keeping damage to life and property at a minimum.

With inputs from PTI