Rain, floods claim 31 lives in MP

Heavy rain and floods have so far claimed 31 lives in Madhya Pradesh prompting the state government to allocate additional funds of Rs 12.47 crore for the flood-affected 23 districts.

Eight people lost their lives in Hoshangabad district, followed by Bhopal where six were killed due to rain and floods, an official release said on Friday. Three deaths were each reported  from Ujjain and Dewas districts, two each from Damoh, Betul and Chhindwara, while one person each was killed in Sehore, Dhar, Seoni, Ratlam and Khandwa.

Besides human loss, 319 cattle were also killed, mostly in Sehore, Hoshangabad and Chhindwara due to floods and rain which also damaged 14,056 houses and 971 shanties in the state, the release said.

A total of 675.9 millimetre rainfall has been registered in the state till Thursday, 66 mm more than the average state rainfall. Till now, 18 districts have registered above normal rain, 28 normal and four districts have witnessed below normal rains. No district has registered scanty rainfall.