JOIN USRain heaps misery on MP, Kerala
Heavy rains and floods claimed as many as 60 lives in Madhya Pradesh and Kerala while scores of villages have been affected by floods.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday also directed the Defence Ministry to deploy helicopters to rescue people stranded in remote areas of Uttarakhand, following a meeting with Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, who sought the Centre’s help to tackle the situation in his state.
After an aerial survey of the rain-affected districts, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told reporters that of the 20 deaths that occurred in the state, 11 took place last week while the rest occurred in the past two days, including four in Bhopal, two each in Chhindwara and Hoshangabad and one in Sagar district. With rivrs like Narmada, Betwa and Tawa flowing above the danger mark, 50 villages were affected by the flood, out of which condition in 20 of them was alarming.
Chouhan said efforts were being made on a war footing to tackle the situation caused by the heavy rains and nothing would be spared to help the affected people.
An Air Force helicopter had been requisitioned to evacuate those surrounded by flood near various rivers, he said.Nearly 50,000 people in the state were affected by heavy rains, he said, adding that everything will be done to ensure their safety. Chouhan also mentioned that soyabean crop had been damaged because of the rains. However, there has been scanty rainfall in Alirajpur district of the state where efforts were being made to prevent migration of people, he said.In Kerala, nine people, including five of a family, were washed away in flashfloods triggered by heavy rains in Kozhikode and Kannur districts, official sources said on Tuesday.Eight of the deaths were reported in Pulloorampara hill region of Kozhikode district where flash floods washed away some houses on Monday, while a boy drowned in flood waters in Kannur district on Tuesday morning.About 40 houses have been damaged in the flash floods in Pullorampara where the heavy downpour also triggered four landslips resulting in road blocks.
An elderly couple, their daughter-in-law and two grandchildren, including a three-year-old boy, were swept away by the deluge in Kozhikode on Monday.
Three other bodies were recovered by rescue teams in Kozhikode, officials said. In Kannur, nine-year-old Akshay was swept away by the swirling flood waters in Iritty.