5,000 Rescued in Chhattisgarh Floods

Jagdalpur: Nearly 5,000 people have been rescued, including 16 airlifted, over the past two days after heavy rain swelled rivers across Chhattisgarh, officials said on Sunday.

One boy died, and another remained missing after being swept away in the Arpa River in Bilaspur on Saturday. A teenage girl was swept away in Dhamtari, where an elderly man was also reported missing near a river.

Although rainfall has subsided, continued inflows from upstream areas and releases from dams have aggravated flooding, particularly in Bastar and adjoining areas, officials said.

More than 1,000 people were rescued and shifted to relief camps in Bastar district over the past 24 hours, an official in Jagdalpur said. Sixteen people stranded in Dongaghat were rescued by helicopters on Sunday morning.

The administration has set up 43 relief camps in urban and rural areas of the district, providing shelter, food and other essentials to more than 5,000 people, the official said.

The Indravati river rose to 12.56 metres by 8 pm on Saturday, 4.26 metres above the danger mark. Teams have been directed to monitor vulnerable low-lying and riverside settlements round the clock and evacuate residents when necessary.

Bastar Collector Akash Chhikara and Superintendent of Police Shalabh Sinha visited affected areas, including Dongaghat and Asna, for the second consecutive day on Saturday. They also inspected a relief camp at Panarapara.

Rescue teams on Saturday brought around six truck drivers and helpers to safety after they were stranded near Sonarpal on National Highway 30.

Five trucks were caught in several feet of water on the Jagdalpur-Raipur road. The drivers and helpers climbed onto their vehicles’ roofs and sought help from the administration through videos, the official said.

In Dhamtari, 65-year-old retired forest department employee Babulal Sahu went missing in Sirsida village. His mobile phone, shawl, walking stick and towel were found near the riverbank, raising fears that he had been swept away, officials said.

In a separate incident, Tarana Nishad, 15, was swept away in a rivulet near a petrol pump in Megha village under Magarlod police station limits. Police and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams were searching at both locations.

In Bilaspur, two boys, aged 12 and 16, were swept away while bathing in the swollen Arpa river at Madhuban Ghat in Dayalband on Saturday. One boy’s body was recovered late that evening, while the search for the other continued.

In Durg, 764 people were rescued after water entered around 200 houses in 13 rural areas and parts of Durg and Bhilai following continuous rain on September 24 and 25.

They were shifted to 16 temporary relief camps, where food, drinking water and other essentials were being provided, officials said.

Around 2,000 people were moved to safer locations and relief centres in Raipur district after flooding affected riverside villages and settlements in the Abhanpur area, including Nawapara, Somwari Bazar, Nehru Ghat, Paragaon and Kutipara.

Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Tankram Verma visited affected areas in Abhanpur on Saturday and distributed assistance cheques of Rs 5,000 each to affected people.

In Dhamtari’s Kurud area, police and administration teams, assisted by residents, rescued nine people stranded at Lomash Rishi Ashram. An SDRF team was also deployed to rescue people trapped by waterlogging at a liquor shop in Nari village.

Elsewhere in Dhamtari, rising Mahanadi waters submerged a liquor shop and swept away bottles. A video showed people trying to retrieve them from the flowing water using a sari and a net tied to a bamboo pole.

In Balodabazar-Bhatapara district, 120 people stranded in villages after rivers and streams rose were rescued and shifted to safer locations, officials said.