2 dead, 7 injured in rain mayhem; Chief Minister says not seen such devastation in 70 yrs

Bhopal : With heavy rains ravaging the Gwalior-Chambal region in Madhya Pradesh, leaving two people dead and damaging bridges and other infrastructure, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday said the state has “not seen such devastation in the last 70 years”.

According to the state government, it has so far recorded two rain-related deaths — one each in Shivpuri and Sheopur districts.

Besides, seven people have been injured – four in Guna, two in Shivpuri and one in Morena, state revenue secretary Gyaneshwar B Patil told PTI, adding that they share death figures only after confirmation from district collectors.

The heavy showers in the Gwalior-Chambal region damaged bridges near the Ratangarh temple (Datia) and Sankua because of which many people were stuck there, Chouhan said.

In the morning, Chouhan spoke to commissioners and Inspector Generals of Gwalior and Chambal divisions (comprising Gwalior, Shivpuri, Guna, Ashok Nagar, Datia, Sheopur, Morena and Bhind districts) to take stock of the flood situation and rescue operations, an official from the state administration in Bhopal said.

The chief minister also informed that an air operation was started to rescue people in the flood-hit Bhind district and Karera in Shivpuri district.

“The state has not seen such devastation in the last 70 years that the rain-ravaged Gwalior-Chambal region is facing. Bridges near the Ratangarh Mata Temple and Sankua in the area were damaged and many people got stranded in those areas,” the official said quoting Chouhan.

On Wednesday night, 57 people were rescued from Kali Pahadi in Shivpuri district, officials said, adding that efforts were on to rescue 35 more people stranded there.

Besides, 13 people were rescued from Teela area in Shivpuri, they said.

Chouhan spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the morning to inform him about the latest flood situation, and rescue and relief operations.

He told the PM about major damages caused to the infrastructure, crops, power and telecom networks and about the requirement of basic necessities, the officials said.

The prime minister has assured all possible help to the state to deal with the situation, they said.

Chouhan also briefed Union Home Minister Amit Shah about the flood situation in the state.

He thanked Modi and Shah for the Centre’s continuous help and support to the state during the crisis.

Shah told the CM that the Centre will send an advance team to assess the damage caused in the state, the officials said.

Vice President Venkaiah Naidu called Chouhan and enquired about the flood and rain situation, as well as the ongoing relief operations, they said.

The work of air-dropping food packets was also started in some of the flood-hit areas, the officials said.

In Sheopur, 13 locations were identified for the air-dropping of food packets, they said The chief minister also chaired a meeting in the morning at his official residence here to review the flood situation.

Officials from the affected districts joined the meeting virtually.

Meanwhile, the rainfall activity has reduced in the Gwalior-Chambal region in the last 24 hours, said P K Saha, the senior meteorologist at the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Bhopal office.

He said Shivpuri and Sheopur received 37 mm and 11 mm rainfall, respectively, in the 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am on Thursday.

“The low pressure (formed) over north-west (Gwalior and Chambal) Madhya Pradesh and neighbouring areas now lies over central parts of north MP (including Bhopal) and adjoining areas,” he added.