Heavy rains in Madhya Pradesh; 11 killed

Of the 11, four died in Hoshangabad, three in Ujjain, two in Damoh and one each in Sehore and Dewas, the chief minister told reporters at the state Hangar after an aerial survey of the affected districts.

There has also been heavy loss of cattle and its estimate is being prepared, he said.

To a poser, he said it was too early to say whether the state would ask for central assistance or request for a central team to be sent to state for studying the situation.

The spectre of drought which was looming large over the state some days back has vanished and now the situation with regard to rainfall is much better, Chouhan said, adding that, however, there have been some districts which received very little or no rainfall at all.

He said the worst-hit was Alirajpur district which had not received any rainfall and this was followed by some pockets in Jhabua, Sheopur, Bhind and Morena districts.

The districts which received heavy rainfall include Harda, Hoshangabad, Sehore, Shajapur, Dewas, Ujjain and Damoh.

Chouhan said even during the aerial survey on Monday, he and his team found many places where fields, particularly along the banks of rivers, were water-logged.

Meanwhile, he commended the work done by the disaster management team, including Army and Home Guard jawans, in rescuing 156 passengers who had been stuck mid-stream in Shajapur district.

Nearly 3,500 people were shifted to relief camps in the affected districts by the administration as a precautionary measure, the chief minister said.

An ex-gratia of Rs 1.5 lakh each would be provided to the kin of those killed due to heavy rainfall.