INDIA: Mumbai: With the Wainganga river flowing above the danger mark, following torrential rains, several low-lying areas in the Bhandara and Gondia districts in the Vidarbha region of Eastern Maharashtra, continued to be flooded on Tuesday.
“As against the danger flood mark of 245.50 meters, the Wainganga river was flowing at 248.36 meters. All the 33 spillway gates of the Gosekhurd Dam located near Pauni in the Bhandara district were opened to regulate water flow,” the Bhandara District Collector Sandeep Kadam said. He added that the rescue and rehabilitation efforts were on.
Since the water rose above two and a half feet in Bhandara city, all the 54 arterial roads remained inaccessible.
Additionally, connecting routes such as the Bhandara-Tumsar Road, Gondia-Nagpur highway, Gondia-Amgaon, Goregaon-Amgaon, and Kurhadi routes remained closed.
More than two thousand people from Bhandara, Tumsar, and Mohadi talukas were evacuated to safer places by the District Disaster Relief and Rescue Team and SDRF rescue teams.
The people have been accommodated in six camps where they are being provided food and shelter at present.
The Gondia district was also battered by rain. The Itiadoh Dam, earth fill and gravity dam on Gadvi river near Arjuni Morgaon, was overflowing. In addition the Sirpur Dam, on the Bagh river near Deori, Gondia district was also flowing above the danger mark.
Due to the incessant rains, the standing crop of over 7 lakh hectares in Yavatmal, Amravati, and Wardha was damaged in the last few days.
The heavy rains in Vidarbha occurred due to flooding of the Wainganga and Wardha rivers originating in the neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, the Central Indian state, which has also been receiving heavy rains for the last few days.
The Weather Bureau has forecast light thunderstorms at isolated places over Nagpur, Bhandara, and light to moderate rains at Amravati, Wardha, Nagpur, Bhandara, and Chandrapur on Wednesday.
In the meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis addressing a public meeting at Chimuar in Chandrapur on Monday said that the government was aware of the loss suffered by the farmers in Vidarbha due to torrential rains for the last two months and an adequate compensation would be given to them.
“The amount will be finalized after discussing the matter with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The money will be credited to the bank accounts of the respective farmers after the conclusion of the Monsoon session of the state legislature (August 17-August 25),” he added.
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