NEW DELHI: As floods continued to wreck havoc in Gujarat and Manipur, the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday spoke to chief ministers of Gujarat and Manipur assuring them all help. The floods have particularly affected five states including Odisha, West Bengal and Rajasthan, where the centre has rushed its rescue teams apart from sending relief material, the government said.
In Gujarat, 14 Districts and population of about 40 lakhs have been affected in recent floods due to heavy rainfall in the last few days. “More than ten lakhs food packets have been airdropped and distributed to the flood victims. Temporary relief camps have been set up in affected areas and peoples are accommodated on need basis. A total of 17 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been deployed for rescue and relief operations in Gujarat,” the Home Ministry said.
The government said in Rajasthan, so far 28 deaths have been reported, out of which 12 people lost their lives during past few days owing to very heavy rainfall. The situation is grim particularly in districts of Jalore, Jhalawar, Baran, Sirohi, Barmer and Dungarpur. “Apart from State Disaster Response Force, Police, RAC at present 08 teams of NDRF are deployed for rescue and relief operations. So far more than 630 peoples have been rescued from various districts in Rajasthan. Relief materials have been distributed to the affected population,” the MHA said in a statement.
In West Bengal, 48 deaths have been reported from various parts of the state during the floods owing to lightening, wall collapse, electrocution, snake bite and drowning. So far 12 districts consisting of 210 blocks and 9691 villages have been affected due to floods. A population of 36 lakh have been affected.
“State Govt has deployed 121 boats for rescue and relief operations. state government has established 1537 relief camps and 214306 peoples have been accommodated. 204 medical teams have also been deployed. So far 402600 water pouches have also been distributed,” the government said
In Odisha, 07 districts of Odisha namely Jajpur, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Bhadrak, Balasore, Jharsuguda and Deogarh are affected. A total of 05 people lost their lives and 644 villages and population – 480399 are affected.
“ODRAF units are carrying out relief and rescue operations. So far 1574 peoples have been evacuated to safer places. 7 relief camps have been opened and 55 peoples have been accommodated. 132 boats have been deployed for rescue operations,” the MHA said.
In Manipur, about 20 villagers of Joumol Village in District Chandel have been swept away by landslide on August 1. “Two teams of NDRF have been earmarked for rescue and relief operations in Village Joumol. Of these one team comprising of 22 rescuers have been airlifted in the morning while the other team is likely to reach by Sunday evening,” the government added.