Flood situation improves in Kerala, at least five killed in Madhya Pradesh rains

Heavy rains and floods continued to disrupt life in parts of India on Thursday even as the situation improved in Kerala, where the water receded.

At least five people have died in Madhya Pradesh since Monday and 100 people have been rescued, reported The Hindu. According to The New Indian Express, seven people have died in rain-related incidents in the state. News agency ANI on Friday tweeted images of water entering the famous Pashupatinath temple in Mandsaur district.

Madhya Pradesh had some from rain on Friday with excess water being released from the six reservoirs in the state. However, the weather department predicted downpour on Saturday morning, with heavy rain in Agar Malwa, Sheopur, Ratlam, Neemuch and four other districts, RR Tripathi of India Meteorological Department Bhopal told PTI.

The state has been receiving heavy rainfall because of a depression. The low-pressure area extended from the state’s northwest areas to its northeast on Thursday. According to the India Meteorological Department, 18 districts are expected to receive heavy rain on Friday.

“Rain will continue to batter the western parts,” GD Mishra, a meteorologist at the Met department, told The Hindu. “The eastern parts will get some relief in a day or two. Overall, the state, barring districts like Balaghat and Chhatarpur in the east, is beginning to receive normal rain. The depression has intensified rain. Another system is likely to develop in the Bay of Bengal around August 22.”

Kerala

Though the situation improved in Kerala, a 357-member team is trying to locate people in Kavalappara village in Kerala’s Malappuram district that was hit by a landslide on August 8. According to Manorama, 34 bodies were recovered till August 15. At least 111 people have died in the state. The rescuers are working 11 hours a day to recover the bodies of missing persons, ignoring warnings of more landslides, the newspaper reported. Rescue work is going on in Puthumala in Wayanad district that was also hit by a landslide.

An orange alert was sounded in the northern districts of Kannur and Kasargod on Thursday while these two districts along with Idukki have a yellow alert for Friday.

Karnataka

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday to seek funds for flood relief work. The toll in the state rose to 62 on Thursday night, PTI reported.

“State is hit by a calamity that has not taken place in the last 108 years,” Yediyurappa said in New Delhi after meeting Modi. “Fifteen days ago there was drought situation, but today dams are full and because of excess water released from Maharashtra there is damage caused...all these things we have brought to the notice of the Prime Minister.”

Yediyurappa will be in New Delhi on Friday and Saturday to hold talks with Home Minister Amit Shah about his government’s Cabinet expansion, and discuss central relief to flood-ravaged districts.

“We have asked for release of funds as immediate relief,” the chief minister added. “He [PM] said, he will discuss and let us know. I’m confident that he is in know of the situation in the state as he has already gathered information. Let’s wait and see.”

He added that the estimated loss was around Rs 40,000 crore. As many as 14 people are still missing in the state, while around 7 lakh people were evacuated.

The Opposition Janata Dal (Secular) and many people in flood-hit districts criticised Yediyurappa’s proposal to rename inundated villages after companies if their owners donate Rs 10 crore or more to rebuild them, The New Indian Express reported. The proposal has now been modified as the chief minister clarified that only “new layouts” in the villages would be named after the donors.

Andhra Pradesh

Over 4,200 residents have been shifted to relief camps in Andhra Pradesh as the overflowing Krishna river caused floods in Guntur and Krishna districts on Friday. One person reportedly died in Guntur district, according to the State Disaster Management Authority.

Several villagers were trapped in Devipatnam and Polavaram mandals in East and West Godavari districts after the river was in full spate on Friday.

An alert was issued in the two districts as authorities anticipated an increase in the water levels of the Krishna and Godavari rivers, which is expected to go over 8 lakh cusecs on Friday night. Meanwhile, National Disaster Response Force and fire department personnel were deployed for relief operations.

The State Disaster Management Authorities said that eight relief camps in Guntur district accomodated 1,619 people at present and 2,667 locals were moved to 10 camps in Krishna district. Fields have been inundated in 935 hectares of Krishna district and 678 hectares of Guntur.

West Bengal

One person died and 15 were injured due to a lightning strike at the Victoria Memorial Complex in Kolkata as heavy rain lashed the city on Friday, ABP Ananda reported. Flight operations were disrupted with traffic congestion reported in several parts of the city that were waterlogged.

A red alert was issued for several districts of West Bengal as heavy to very heavy rainfall was predicted for the next two days. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation will monitor the situation through control rooms. “In anticipation of formation of cyclonic circulation over Bangladesh and adjoining Gangetic West Bengal, heavy rainfall (7-11 cm) is very likely to occur over districts of Gangetic West Bengal during next 48 hours,” NDTV quoted a weather department official as saying.

Other states

The Met department, meanwhile, said there was likely to be widespread rainfall in the western Himalayan region from August 16 to August 18. Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and West Uttar Pradesh are also expected to receive rain, Hindustan Times reported.

An orange alert, which means authorities should be prepared to avert disaster, is in place in all northwestern states on August 17. The following day, the alert will be in effect in only Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.