Another cloudburst in Tehri; over 4,000 rescued in Raj in 2 days

New Tehri: Uttarakhand's Tehri district bore the brunt of another cloudburst on Wednesday as heavy rains led to the overflowing of the Nelchami rivulet in Chirbatia village, inundating irrigated farmlands.

However, preliminary reports did not mention any casualty, the district disaster management office here said. Some bridges on the Moolgarh-Tharti Road have been damaged. The road is blocked near Tharti and traffic along the route is disrupted, it said.

The Nelchami river is flowing furiously and people living close to the banks fear for their safety, a source said.

In the cloudbursts on August 19, Tehri district accounted for the highest number of casualties. Five out of the total seven bodies recovered so far were found in Gwad and Silla villages of the district.

Meanwhile, more than 4,000 people have been shifted from flood-hit areas to safer places in the past two days while security personnel were deployed for rescue efforts in Kota, Jhalawar, Baran and Bundi districts of Rajasthan.

Though the situation was better on Wednesday as the water started receding, several areas in these districts are still submerged following heavy rainfall, officials said.

Meanwhile, schools reopened in Kota, Bundi and Baran while these remained shut in Jhalawar.

Chief minister Ashok Gehlot has directed officials to conduct a survey to assess the loss of property due to the heavy rainfall in Kota and neighbouring areas.

An official of the state disaster management and relief department said in Jaipur that teams of the district administration, Army, Air Force, police, NDRF and SDRF successfully rescued 4,302 people from the flood-affected areas on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Thirteen people were airlifted from Khurai village in Baran district on Tuesday and the helicopter is standby at Kota airport."Due to very heavy rainfall in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, an excessive inflow of water in Chambal, Kalisindh, Parvan, Parvati and Mej rivers and the release of water from Kalisindh, Kota Barrage, Jawahar Sagar, Parvati Dam, flood situation has emerged in Kota, Bundi, Baran, Karauli, Sawai Madhopur, Jhalawar and Dholpur districts," the official said.

Many areas were inundated. People were stuck in low-lying areas and there was waterlogging up to six feet. Many villages turned into islands and were cut off from district headquarters.