Jaipur, Aug 13 (PTI) Normal life in several parts of Rajasthan was hit for the third consecutive day on Tuesday due to heavy rainfall while Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma conducted an aerial survey of the affected areas, officials said.
The state was battered by torrential rainfall on Sunday and Monday resulting in the deaths of 22 people. While parts of the state, especially in eastern Rajasthan, received heavy rain on Tuesday, no casualties were reported from anywhere, they said.
Schools were shut on Tuesday in several affected districts including Baran, Bundi, Kota, Tonk, Bharatpur, Dausa, Dholpur, Jaipur and Karauli.
A ‘red’ warning was in place for Baran, Bundi, Kota and Tonk districts and an ‘orange’ alert for Bharatpur, Dausa, Dholpur, Jaipur and Karauli on Tuesday.
A ‘red’ warning calls for action and vigilance while an ‘orange’ alert signifies a preparedness advisory for authorities.
The chief minister conducted an aerial survey of rain-hit areas in Dausa, Karauli and Bharatpur districts and held a review meeting with officers in Jaipur.
Kirodi Lal Meena, who submitted his resignation as the state’s disaster relief minister, took part in a field survey and held a meeting with officials in Dausa.
Meena resigned from the Cabinet following the BJP’s underwhelming performance on some Lok Sabha seats in the general elections. The resignation was not accepted.
On Tuesday, Sharma reached Bharatpur’s Srinagar village to meet the family members of the seven youths who drowned in a rainwater-filled pit on August 11. He expressed grief over the incident and offered condolences.
In Jaipur, he held a meeting with senior officials and directed them to provide essential items like water, food, and medicines to the people living in the affected areas.
He also directed them to find a permanent solution to the problem of waterlogging in Karauli district and sought the repair of damaged roads and restoration of power supply in the affected areas at the earliest.
BJP MLA Meena conducted a field visit in Dausa and asserted that help would be provided to people.
“Held a review meeting to deal with the current situation after heavy rainfall and discussions were held with all the subdivision-level officers… Directions were given to take necessary steps to help the affected people,” he said on X.
Meanwhile, a warning for heavy to very heavy rainfall is in place for Wednesday in the Bharatpur, Ajmer, Jaipur and Kota divisions. In some areas of eastern Rajasthan, moderate to heavy rain may occur on Thursday and Friday.
From 8.30 am to 5.30 pm on Tuesday, Karauli recorded 34.5 mm of rain, and Bharatpur and Sikar received 20.5 mm and 16 mm of rain. Several other places recorded below 16 mm of rain, the Met Centre in Jaipur said.
In the last 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Tuesday, Mahua in Dausa recorded the highest rainfall at 163 mm, it said.
Nainwa in Bundi recorded 161 mm of rain, Jaipur 152 mm and Madhorajpura in Jaipur 136 mm — all in the category of ‘very heavy rain’ — during the period.
A dilapidated house collapsed in Sikar’s Dhod area on Tuesday due to the downpour, however, no one was injured in the incident, officials said.
An official of the Disaster Relief Department said personnel from the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force had rescued more than 100 people and were engaged in providing help to people in waterlogged areas.
He said the situation in Karauli district, which was facing a flood-like condition till Monday, was gradually returning to normal. PTI SDA RHL
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