The past few weeks have seen several states across India ravaged by incessant rains and the consequent flooding of rivers. More than 26,400 people have so far been rescued by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) from the flood-ravaged areas in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and other states.
The Centre rushed 10 NDRF teams to flood-hit areas of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh on Monday night in addition to the other 56 rescue and relief teams that have been fanned out to help people hit by heavy rains in these states and has tasked two Deputy Inspector General-rank officers in Bihar and UP with monitoring the situation.
NDRF Director General OP Singh said that while five teams are being airlifted for immediate deployment from its base in Odisha to Uttar Pradesh, the rest five are being picked by choppers from Bathinda in Punjab and will be sent to Bihar.
As floods disrupted normal life in many areas of the country, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday spoke to chief ministers of four flood-hit states – Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Rajasthan – and assured all central help in dealing with the disaster.
The Ganga on Sunday crossed the danger mark in West Bengal, Bihar and neighbouring districts of Uttar Pradesh, where the Yamuna river is also in spate, while heavy rainfall has created a flood-like situation in some parts of Rajasthan, where six persons have died so far.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday promised the Centre’s total support to five flood-hit states in rescue and relief operations.
He said Home Minister Rajnath Singh is closely monitoring the situation and has spoken to the chief ministers of UP, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to take stock of the situation.
“Centre assures total support in the rescue & relief operations. I hope the situation in the affected areas normalises at the earliest,” he said in a tweet. “HM @rajnathsinghji is closely monitoring the situation.
(With PTI inputs.)
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