Chhattisgarh: 4 of family among 5 dead in Bastar flash floods

Rajesh — after visiting the house of his friend, Anupa Das, in Bastar’s Jagdalpur city — hired a local driver Lala Yadu for attending a wedding in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati, police said. At around 9 am on Tuesday, the car the family was travelling in got swept away while crossing the culvert, near National Highway 30. “The car had an automatic lock system, and the family got trapped inside the car. The driver managed to save himself by holding onto a tree branch… After the water receded at around 2 pm, the car was found 200 metres away from the accident spot,” a police officer said.

Das said: “Rajesh called me at around 8.15 am on Tuesday, and said they were taking a detour due to heavy rain triggered flash floods. I called the emergency number, but he said they will manage by themselves. Later, their cellphones switched off. When I called the driver, he told me their car got swept away while crossing a flooded culvert. He somehow managed to save himself, but could not help the four family members.”

In the second incident, the unidentified person went missing in an overflowing stream in Bastar. Police said efforts are underway to trace him at the earliest.

According to Inspector Chanakya Nag, the local residents claimed they “have not witnessed such severe flash floods in many years”.

Evacuation underway

Meanwhile, as many as 2,196 people have been evacuated to 43 shelters amid the flash floods and inundated areas in four districts in Bastar region, a government official said on Wednesday.

The flash floods have also killed 17 livestock, partially damaged 165 houses and completely destroyed 86 others in 25 villages of Bastar, Dantewada, Sukma and Bijapur districts, where downpour over the past two days led several rivers and rivulets to flow in spate, thereby disrupting the normal life. Bastar received the maximum rainfall at 121.3 mm, followed by Dantewada (118.4 mm), Sukma (109.3mm) and Bijapur (50.2mm).

CM orders immediate aid

Currently on a visit to South Korea, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai directed the authorities concerned to intensify rescue and relief operations in flood-affected districts, stressing people’s safety remains the top priority, a government statement read. He has instructed district administrations to ensure timely provision of food, medical aid and essential supplies to those staying in camps. The CM also directed immediate assistance to villages cut off due to flooding, and ordered their round-the-clock monitoring from disaster control rooms.

“The administration and relief teams must remain active and ensure every needy person receives timely help,” Sai said. “With collective efforts of the administration and the people, we will overcome this disaster and restore normal life in the affected areas at the earliest.”

-With PTI inputs