Floods kill over 100 in five states

New Delhi, August 2

At least 102 people lost their lives and more than170 lakh people were affected in fresh floods due to excessive rains in worst-affected Rajasthan, West Bengal, Odisha, Manipur and Gujarat.

While the death toll touched 48 in West Bengal, 28 died in Rajasthan and five in Odisha, a Home Ministry statement said here today.

A total of 36,90,627 people in 9,691 villages of 210 blocks in 12 districts in West Bengal have been affected due to floods, while a population of 40 lakh in Gujarat and 4,80,399 in Odisha, it said.

In West Bengal, 48 deaths have been reported from various parts of the state during the floods owing to lightening, wall collapse, electrocution, snake bite and drowning.

As reported by the state government due to cyclone “Komen”, heavy to very heavy rainfall occurred at isolated places in almost all of south West Bengal districts, the statement said.

In Rajasthan, 28 people have lost their lives, out of which 12 people died during past few days owing to very heavy rainfall and a flood-like situation in many parts of the state.

The situation is "grim" particularly in districts of Jalore, Jhalawar, Baran, Sirohi, Barmer and Dungarpur, the statement said.

Apart from State Disaster Response Force, police, RAC etc., eight teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed for rescue operations.

In Gujarat, 14 districts and population of about 40 lakh were affected in recent floods due to heavy rainfall.

More than 10 lakh food packets have been airdropped or distributed to the flood victims. Seventeen NDRF teams have been deployed for rescue and relief operations in Gujarat.

In Odisha, seven districts namely Jajpur, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Bhadrak, Balasore, Jharsuguda and Deogarh have been affected by the floods, the statement said. Five people lost their lives and 644 villages and 4,80,399 people were affected. 1574 people have been evacuated to safer places, it said.

The water level on all major rivers in Manipur is, however, receding as rains stopped since yesterday.

"One person was killed while he was trying to protect his home at Serou village from the surging waters of the Sekmai river on Saturday evening," Robert Leisangthem, a resident of Kakching in Thoubal, said on phone.

This takes the toll to 21 after 20 persons were killed in a landslide at Joumul village in neighbouring Chandel district on Saturday. — Agencies

Army rescue op in Gujarat, Rajasthan on

Ahmedabad: From restoring railway tracks to rescuing a drowning mother and her baby, and even a dog, the Army and Air Force personnel have come handy in the flood-hit areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat. Troops of Southern Command and South Western Command have been involved in the rescue operations. “They have evacuated more than 1,000 people to safer area and provided relief items such as food, drinking water and medicines and medical cover to over 2,400 people. A total of 28 relief teams, seven medical teams and seven ETFs (Engineer Task Forces) were deployed,” Army sources said.  PTI