Flood situation worsens in Kota, other districts, as rivers bellow with release of water

KOTA, (PTI): The flood situation worsened in four districts of Kota division as constant release of large amounts of water from Kota Barrage and Kalisindh caused Parvan and Parvati rivers to swell leading to submerging of several villages in low lying areas.

Schools remained closed on Tuesday in Kota, Bundi, Jhalawar and Baran districts, however coaching classes in Kota were resumed on Tuesday.

Authorities discharged 5,20,449 lakh cusecs of water from the Kota Barrage at 4 pm on Tuesday, and asked people living in low lying areas of Nayapura, Balita, Gavndi to evacuate.

Kota district collector O P Bunker held a meeting with officials Tuesday morning and discussed the worsening flood situation.

“Around 6 lakh cusecs of water was scheduled to be released from Kota Barrage on Tuesday and efforts are underway to shift the people from low lying colonies and localities on the banks of Chambal River,” Bunker said. “No one is presently stranded and people are safe and secure,” he said.

With four water pumps meant to supply drinking water in Kota city went out of order, people struggled to get drinking water on Monday and Tuesday.

“Water tankers are being hired to supply drinking water to around 3–4 lakh people in the city and the problem is likely to persist for the next two days,” the collector said.

Kota city SP Kesar Singh Shekhawat said that residents not ready to vacate the low lying areas would forcibly be shifted to safer places and if required they would be arrested for ”preventive reasons.” Satish Suman, 12, was washed away in the bellowing Sukhdi river in Itawa town of Kota district on Tuesday while bathing with two other boys. He was found dead, Itawa Police Station SHO Ram Vilash Meena said. As hundreds struggled to get to safety, several people led by former BJP MLA Bhawani Singh Rajawat staged a ‘dharna’ outside Kaithun Police Station in protest against “mismanagement” and demanded compensation for the loss to life and material.

They submitted a memorandum to the SDM. Several villages in the region, such as, Kharwan, Narayanpura, Raghunathpura, Rajpura, Hawa Khedli, and Gaita Kerpuriya turned into islands with water all around them.

Scores of people stranded in Kaithun, Lakh Sanija, Arampura Kheda, Dhakad Khedi, Kanwarpura, Nohara, and Anantpura, all in and around Kota city, were rescued to safety by NDRF, SDRF, civil defence and Nagar Nigam squads on Tuesday.

The flood situation was very grave in Jhalawar where about three dozen villages were disconnected from district headquarters, Jhalawar collector Bharti Dixit said.

Currently six lakh cusecs of water is being released through 26 gates of Kalisindh dam in Jhalawar, however the water discharge is likely to come down, as authorities have requested their peers in Madhya Pradesh to control the water release in their dams as the rainy conditions there were now normal, she said. (PTI)