Excess rain, overflowing dams flood central India
24 killed in Madhya Pradesh and Odisha; thousands displaced as heavy rain causes dams to overflow
NEW DELHI: An overflowing Narmada threw life out of gear in parts of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat and water released from the Hirakud dam flooded several districts of Odisha on the weekend. At least 24 people were killed in MP and Odisha and thousands were displaced as heavy rainfall lashed parts of India, causing dams to overflow.
Rainfall has been 25% more than normal in August, which India Meteorological Department (IMD) is the highest for the month in 44 years. The previous highest in August was recorded in 1983, when rain was 23.8% more than the normal
In Madhya Pradesh, at least eight people were killed in the past 24 hours and more than 9,000 were moved to relief camps during rescue operations. The latest fatalities took the rainand flood-related death toll in MP to 129 since this monsoon. Sixteen people died in flooding in Odisha, officials said. A large number of people were airlifted to safety with the help of air force helicopters.
Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday morning and sought his help in rescue operations being carried on by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Home Guards, police and personnel of other departments.
“The rescue operations have been continuing since Friday evening. There are 454 villages in 12 districts affected by the flood. As many as 9,300 people have been moved to 170 relief camps,” Chouhan said, adding that he was monitoring the flood situation from a control room set up at his residence. He said huge damage had been caused to standing crops and added that farmers will be compensated with crop insurance and other relief schemes. Large parts of the Narmada river basin in Gujarat were flooded as excess water was released from the Sardar Sarovar dam in the state and dams in Madhya Pradesh.
According to home ministry data, until Sunday, 175 people had died because in floods in Gujarat with half the deaths reported in August. “We are providing relief and relocating people from the worst affected areas,” PTI quoted chief minister Vijay Rupani as saying.
Over 800,000 have been affected across 500 villages of Odisha, said Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena on Sunday. He said 50,000 people evacuated to safe shelters.
According to the the Central Water Commission’s update dated August 29, eight dams have overflown including the Tawa dam in MP on the river Narmada; Rengali dam in Odisha on river Brahmani; and Hidkal in Karnataka on Ghataptrabha. River Mahanadi in parts of Chhattisgarh; Wainganga and Narmada in MP are rising rapidly, CWC said.
“It’s a dangerous situation. Any dam that reaches full reservoir level when monsoon is still underway can be disastrous for districts downstream. The dam operators should have released water gradually and not when it’s already 100%,” said Himanshu Thakkar, coordinator of South Asia Network of Dams, Rivers and People.