INDIA. Mumbai: In most districts, including Gadchiroli, Yavatmal, Amravati, Bhandara, and Chandrapur, the relentless rain has subsided a little, but some villages in the Vidarbha region are still blocked off by floodwaters.
On the requisition from the Maharashtra Government, Army was deployed in the Vidarbha region to support the evacuation and rescue of the villagers from the flood-affected areas.
Army team from GUARDS Regimental Centre (GRC) Kamptee, Nagpur under command of Major Bhuvan Shah reached the affected area, with necessary equipment on the night of Tuesday at 10.30 pm.
The Army rescue operation started at the village Mangaon, District Chandrapur, during the wee hours of Wednesday. The village is completely cut off due to the flood. The army rescue team is continuously operating in conjunction with the civil authorities and disaster management teams.
113 villagers were rescued to the safer areas till Wednesday. Besides, one team has been kept on standby at Kamptee Cantonment to respond to any further requirements depending on the flood situation. Brigadier Deepak Sharma, Commandant, GRC visited the sites to oversee the operations carried out by Army on Wednesday.
Incessant and heavy rainfall in the Vidarbha region over the last few days and the release of water from irrigation projects have resulted in a flood-like situation in the Chandrapur district of Nagpur Sub Division. Teams of NDRF and SDRF are operating in the region, an Army statement said.
Since the low-pressure belt from Odisha has moved towards the Vidarbha region, light to moderate rainfall is very likely at a few places over Bhandara, at isolated places over Nagpur, Wardha, Gondia, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, and Yavatmal districts, a weather bulletin issued on Thursday morning by the Regional Meteorological Centre, Indian Meteorological Department, Nagpur stated.
In the meanwhile the traffic movement on Akola-Akot road which was disrupted due to the overflowing Purna river was moving towards normalcy, official sources said.
In another development, a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, to take stock of the flood situation in Gadchiroli, Wardha, Yavatmal, and Chandrapur was held on Wednesday. The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Manukumar Srivastav, CM’s Additional CS Bhushan Gagrani, and others. The Collectors of respective districts attended the meeting virtually.
In the meeting, the CM instructed concerned officials to initiate measures to prevent common monsoon diseases. The meeting concluded that nearly 60 percent of deaths out of 109 rain-related deaths, occurred due to electrocution.
As such the disaster relief department should implement an effective system to prevent electrocution.
Shinde also instructed officials to carry out panchnamas expeditiously so that those who suffered losses due to flooding could get compensation immediately.
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