Rain fury: 2 washed away, 2 missing in Raj; 6.4 lakh still marooned in Odisha

New Delhi: Two people were washed away in floods and two others went missing in Rajasthan's Baran and Bundi districts, as heavy rains continued to lash the region on Tuesday.

Torrential rains have created a flood-like situation in Rajasthan's three districts — Jhalawar, Dholpur and Baran — where the Army has been called to carry out rescue operations, officials said on Tuesday.

An IAF helicopter is also being deployed to airlift more than 50 people stuck in the waterlogged areas in Baran and Jhalawar districts while schools in all four districts of Kota division — Kota, Baran, Jhalawar and Bundi — have been shut, they said. Secretary of Disaster Management and Relief Department Ashutosh Pednekar said army columns have been deployed in Dholpur and Jhalawar districts. Rivers like Chambal, Parvan, Parvati, and Kalisindh are flooded and excess water from overflowing dams is being released by opening their gates. The body of 35-year-old Premnarayan Suman, a resident of Dabri Kakaji village in Baran district, who had been swept away in the flood on Monday evening, was recovered Tuesday from near his village, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Anta circle) Tarun Kant Somani said.

In Bundi district, Satyanarayan Prajapat, 50, a resident of Suwasda village fell into a flooded anicut on Tuesday morning while he was on his way to collect fodder for cattle near his village.

Prajapat was found dead, Circle Inspector at (Nainwan) Babulal Meena said. Bodies of both, Suman and Prajapat, were handed over to their families after post-mortem later in the day. In Baran's Shekhapur village, a 20-year-old man, identified as Ekram, was swept away while crossing a flooded brook along with his two friends on Monday evening. Locals rescued the two youths, while Ekram has not been located yet, Station House Officer (Kawai) Man Singh said.

In Kota district, search operations were on to locate Kuldeep Chauhan, who had fallen into a swollen Chambal river near Nayapura crematorium ground on Monday evening. Meanwhile, the water level in most of the swollen rivers in Odisha dropped below the danger level on Tuesday even as 6.4 lakh people remained marooned across 902 villages in the state, officials said. Water Resources Department Chief Engineer B K Mishra said most of the rivers, including Subarnarekha in northern Odisha and Mahanadi in the East, are flowing below the danger level. "The peak flood is over, but many villages remain inundated," he said.

However, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall in one or two places in Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"Floodwaters in many villages in these districts are still wreaking havoc. The administration is taking measures to face the fresh rainfall," he said.

Even though there has been no breach in the embankment of Subarnarekha, where a peak flood was witnessed on Monday afternoon, embankments of Mahanadi and its tributaries have been breached in seven places, the official said.

"The department will immediately undertake temporary repair of the embankments now, and will commence permanent repair after floodwaters recede completely," he said.

The water level in Subarnarekha and Bhudhabalang rivers that caused a flood in Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts has fallen below the danger mark. Similar is the situation of the Baitarani River which inundated several villages in Jajpur and Keonjhar districts, the official said.

Mishra said the flood situation in the Mahanadi River has improved.

"The water level in Hirakud Dam was 623.35 feet at 9 AM. While 1.59 lakh cusecs of water was entering the reservoir, 1.04 lakh cusecs were being discharged through four gates," he said.

However, Jalaka River that caused flood in Balasore block was flowing above the danger level. It was flowing at 6.45 metres at Mathani, while the danger level is at 5.5 metres. Meanwhile, the Balasore district administration, which is dealing with the flood situation in Baliapal, Bhograi, Basta, Jaleswar, Balasore Sadar and Remuna blocks, continued to evacuate more affected people to flood shelters.

The Indian Air Force will deploy two helicopters for relief operations in Madhya Pradesh's flood-hit Vidisha district, officials said on Tuesday.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will also conduct an aerial survey of the rain-affected district on Tuesday, they said.

Many parts of MP, including Bhopal, witnessed heavy downpours over the last few days, leading to power supply disruptions in the state capital and other places.

with agency inputs