Jaipur, Jul 29: Heavy rains in Rajasthan have led to flood-like conditions in many districts, including Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Jhalawar, Kota, Pali and Sirohi, a MeT department official said.
Due to the overflowing rivers, gates of dams built on Chambal, Kalisindh and Banas river were opened.
A private school bus with 35 children on board got stuck on the Keral River culvert in Sirohi. Meanwhile, two bike riders were swept away while crossing the bridge of Bedach river in Chittorgarh, police said.
A flood-like situation occurred in Bhilwara’s Bijolia area where a boat was seen rowing on flooded roads. Water overflowed up to 5 feet on the bridge of Eru river in Bhilwara.
Due to heavy rains in Jhalawar, the situation has worsened in about half a dozen villages. In Jaipur, the roads were flooded due to torrential rains in the evening, which led to jams on roads and trouble in low lying areas.
In view of the warning of heavy rain, the administration declared a holiday for schools in 11 districts on July 29 as well. Some districts like Jhalawar have extended the holidays. These include Jhalawar, Kota, Chittorgarh, Tonk, Bhilwara, Baran, Dungarpur, Dholpur, Salumber, Banswara, Ajmer.
According to the Jaipur meteorological centre, heavy rainfall was recorded in Kota, Bhilwara, Jhalawar, Chittorgarh, Pratapgarh, Tonk, Sirohi, Rajsamand, Pali, Bundi, Baran, Banswara and Ajmer districts in the last 24 hours.
Highest rainfall in east Rajasthan was recorded at 242 mm in Ramganj Mandi, Kota, and 235 mm in Jaitura, Bhilwara. In West Rajasthan, Bali in Pali district received the most rainfall at 88 mm, 61 mm rain was recorded in Bakani of Jhalawar, 43 mm in Atru of Baran, 26 mm in Chhabra, 64 mm in Bijolia of Bhilwara, 28 mm in Nainwan of Bundi and 31 mm in Behror of Alwar.
Radheshyam Sharma, director, Jaipur meteorological centre, said that the monsoon trough line has now returned to its normal position from the north, which is currently passing through Bikaner and Kota. Due to these seasonal activities, heavy rains are expected on Monday and in many districts on July 29 and 30th.
The Meteorological Center Jaipur has issued a red alert in 3 districts, orange in 5 and yellow in 19 districts for Tuesday. Relief from the heavy rains can be expected only after August 1.
In Kota, State Education minister Madan Dilawar also visited rain affected areas in his constituency Ramganjmandi on Monday and took stock of the relief operation.
The minister, riding on a tractor, reached Kumbhkot Basti, where colonies were submerged with rainy water. He toured Haripura, Julmi, Deolikhurd, and Sandpur villages and supervised the flood situation.
Two Civil Defense teams and one SDRF team have been stationed in the Ramganjmandi area. An SDSF team is also stationed in Sultanpur and Pipalda.
Around 150 families were rescued from Kudaila village in Ramganjmandi area. Approximately 150 families in Kudaila village and 100 people in Deolikurd were relocated to safe places.
Amid the constant rains in the Hadouti region since Sunday morning, at least 13 of the 27 gates of newly constructed Novnera dam under ERCP project were opened for the first time on Monday after testing last year. At least 8400 MCM of water was released from 13 gates of Novnera Dam since early Monday morning, Junior Engineer at Navnera Dam said.
The dam water will fulfill the requirement for irrigation water in 16 districts and over 1000 bigas of land.
Rajasthan has received nearly 88 per cent more rainfall than normal so far this monsoon, resulting in 226 dams across the state either full or overflowing, according to official data released on Monday.
Between June 1 and July 28, the state recorded 369.79 mm of rainfall, as compared to the average 196.79 mm for this period–an 87.91 per cent increase, state officials said.
Rajasthan has already received 87.07 per cent of its seasonal average of 424.71 mm rainfall, the statement said.
The state’s Water Resources Department reported that the total storage in Rajasthan’s 693 dams has reached 75.33 per cent of their collective capacity of 13,026 million cubic meters (MCM). Of this, 23 major dams are at 84.14 per cent capacity, while 670 medium and small dams stand at 60.39 per cent.
In the statement, Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma welcomed the rainfall as a “positive sign” for agriculture and groundwater recharge.
He said ongoing state-run water conservation initiatives, including the “Karmabhoomi se Matribhumi” campaign and “Vande Ganga Jal Sanrakshan Jan Abhiyan”, are contributing to groundwater replenishment by channeling excess rainwater into recharge shafts and conservation structures.
Sharma added that, with support from non-resident Rajasthanis, the state aims to construct 45,000 new water conservation structures over the next four years.
Officials confirmed that six gates of Bisalpur dam in Tonk were opened on Monday, the first such overflow event in July in recent years.
Several other dams, including Gudha, Galwa, Morrel, Toradi Sagar, Chaparwada, and Sardar Samand, have reached 100 per cent capacity, while others such as Rana Pratap Sagar (98.54 per cent), Kota Barrage (97.25 per cent), and Mahi Bajaj Sagar (82.21 per cent) are nearly full.
According to the statement, the highest rainfall in the state this season was recorded in Ramganj Mandi, Kota, at 1,261 mm. (PTI)
