Chhattisgarh floods: Nearly 5,000 rescued as rivers stay above danger mark

Nearly 5,000 people were rescued in Chhattisgarh over the last two days, including 16 who were airlifted, after heavy rain caused rivers and streams to swell and worsened flood-like conditions in several districts, officials said on Sunday. While the rain has eased, water levels have remained high because of continued inflow from upstream areas and the release of water from dams.

The impact was reported from Bastar, Dhamtari, Bilaspur, Durg, Raipur, Balodabazar-Bhatapara and Narayanpur districts. Rescue teams moved people to relief camps and safer locations, while search operations continued for those reported missing.

In Bastar, more than 1,000 people were rescued and shifted to relief camps in the last 24 hours, an official in Jagdalpur said. Sixteen people stranded in the Dongaghat area were rescued by helicopter on Sunday morning.

The administration set up 43 relief camps in urban and rural parts of the district, where over 5,000 affected people were being given shelter, food and other essential facilities.

The Indravati river rose to 12.56 metres by 8 pm on Saturday, which was 4.26 metres above the danger mark. Officials said vigilance had been stepped up in low-lying and riverside areas, with field teams asked to monitor vulnerable locations round the clock and evacuate people whenever needed.

Bastar Collector Akash Chhikara and Superintendent of Police Shalabh Sinha visited affected areas, including Dongaghat and Asna, for the second day in a row on Saturday and also inspected arrangements at a relief camp in Panarapara.

In another operation in Bastar, around six truck drivers and helpers stranded in floodwaters near Sonarpal on National Highway-30 were rescued on Saturday. Five trucks had got stuck after several feet of water collected on the Jagdalpur-Raipur road, and the men had taken shelter on the roofs of the vehicles and sought help through videos sent to the administration.

In Dhamtari, a video showed people trying to retrieve liquor bottles that had been swept away after the rising Mahanadi submerged a liquor shop. They were seen using a sari and a net tied to a bamboo pole.

Officials said a 65-year-old retired forest department employee, Babulal Sahu, went missing in Sirsida village, where his mobile phone, shawl, walking stick and towel were found near a riverbank, raising fears that he had been swept away.

In another incident in Dhamtari, a 15-year-old girl, Tarana Nishad, was swept away in a rivulet near a petrol pump in Megha village under the Magarlod police station area. Police and State Disaster Response Force teams were carrying out search operations in both cases.

Officials also said nine people stranded at the Lomash Rishi Ashram in the Kurud area were rescued by police and administration teams with help from local residents, while an SDRF team was deployed to rescue people trapped due to waterlogging at a liquor shop in Nari village in Kurud.

In Bilaspur, two boys aged 12 and 16 were swept away while bathing in the swollen Arpa river at Madhuban Ghat in the Dayalband area on Saturday. Officials said the body of one of them was recovered late that night, while a search was under way for the other boy.

In Durg district, 764 people were rescued after water entered around 200 houses in 13 rural areas and parts of Durg and Bhilai following continuous rain on September 24 and 25. They were shifted to 16 temporary relief camps where food, drinking water and other essential facilities were arranged.

In Raipur district, several villages and settlements along the river in the Abhanpur area, including Nawapara, Somwari Bazar, Nehru Ghat, Paragaon and Kutipara, were flooded.

Around 2,000 people were moved to safer places and relief centres, where food, drinking water and other essentials were arranged. Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Tankram Verma visited the affected areas in Abhanpur on Saturday and distributed assistance cheques of Rs 5,000 each to affected people.

In Balodabazar-Bhatapara district, 120 people stranded in villages after river and stream levels rose due to heavy rain were rescued and shifted to safer places.

In Narayanpur district, nine families living along the riverbank in Kalmanar village of Orchha block were moved to safer locations and relatives' houses as the river approached the danger mark. A 55-year-old villager, Gopi Ram Patel, was also rescued after he was stranded in floodwaters in Taragaon on Saturday.

Officials said rescue and relief work continued across affected districts as high river levels kept the situation difficult even after rainfall reduced, with search operations still on in Dhamtari and Bilaspur.- EndsWith PTI inputs.