Incessant rainfall continued to cause havoc in Gujarat and Rajasthan on Tuesday with hundreds of people marooned in several inundated regions of the two neighboring states even as heavy rains in other parts of the country flooded streets, choked traffic and hit normal life.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi carried out an aerial survey of the worst-hit Banaskantha and Patan districts in his home state where Army, IAF, NDRF and local teams have intensified rescue and relief operations.
He announced Rs 500 crore for Gujarat for rescue work after an aerial survey of the flooded areas and Rs 2 lakh compensation to the kin of the 83 people who have died and Rs 50,000 to the injured. Nine more deaths were reported on Tuesday.
Modi, who flew over Banaskantha, Sabarkantha and Patan districts of North Gujarat, said a team of the union Urban Development and Rural Development Ministries would visit the state to assess the extent of damage and suggest short-term as well as long-term measures.
Modi told reporters at the Ahmedabad airport: "In such situations, it is the farmers who suffer the most. Insurance companies may be advised to quickly organise assessment of damage to crops and assets of farmers and initiate immediate steps to settle the claims."
Modi was accompanied by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel during the aerial survey.
After holding a high-level meeting with Rupani and Patel, besides former Chief Minister Anandiben Patel and officials, Modi praised the Gujarat government for "rising to the occasion promptly and having already prepared a blueprint for the crisis".
The north Gujarat districts of Banaskantha, Sabarkantha and Patan have been flooded after incessant rains during the last 36 hours.
In all, entire Gujarat has registered 534 mm of rain, which is 66 per cent of its total usual seasonal average of 810 mm. "As many as three persons have lost their lives in last 24 hours in Banaskantha district," Patel said.
As many as 46,000 people have been moved to safety in Banaskantha district till Tuesday evening even as 1,000 persons have been rescued.
A total of 472 villages in the district are without electricity, with six national highways, 61 other roads and 287 panchayat roads closed for vehicular traffic.
Seventeen trains passing through the region to Delhi and north India have been cancelled, six terminated midway and two trains diverted. Over 300 buses too have been cancelled.
The Army, IAF, NDRF, police and fire brigade are engaged in rescuing people from flooded areas.
8 more killed as flood fury continues in Rajasthan
Two days after torrential rains wreaked havoc in Rajasthan, the death toll reached 12 with more people reported dead on Tuesday.
Joint teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indian Army, Indian Air Force (IAF) and state administration rescued at least 500 people by Tuesday evening.
While two were reported dead in Jalore, three in Barmer and one in Sirohi districts, two died in Udaipur. Rescue work expedited with heavy rains subsiding. A family of nine - who had taken shelter on a treetop in Siyana village of Jalore - was rescued with the help of IAF choppers and NDRF divers and boats.
Odisha is also bracing for floods with three of the state's major rivers flowing above the danger mark.
Heavy rainfall is likely to pound several parts of the state due the low pressure area persisting over in the region.
Authorities in Keonjhar, Bhadrak and Jajpur districts have stepped up their preparedness for rescue-and-relief operations while the situation in Balasore district is also being monitored.
The weather improved in Bengal today with no heavy rain in most parts since last night. However, low lying areas in Birbhum, Purulia, West Midnapore and Hooghly districts were still under water. Roads in state capital Kolkata continued to be waterlogged.
The flood situation in Assam also improved with most rivers flowing below the danger level but the death toll rose to 77 as a person drowned in Hojai.
Incessant rains disrupted normal life in several parts of Jharkhand with many rivers, including Damodar, Konar and Siwane, in spate.
The district administrations of Ranchi, East Singhbhum, Hazaribagh, Bokaro and Giridih have declared a holiday tomorrow for students up to class 8 in view of incessant rains, official sources said.
In Bihar, light rainfall occurred at a few places in the northern part of the state, while heavy showers were witnessed at a few places in the south west, a MeT bulletin said.
The national capital too witnessed scattered rains that brought down the mercury. The maximum temperature settled at 32.5 degrees Celsius, two notches below the season's average.
Dharamshala, which received 55 mm rainfall, was the wettest place in Himachal Pradesh, while moderate downpour was witnessed in several parts of the state.
