ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK, AUGUST 15, 2006
BHOPAL: Eleven people were killed and more than 12 went missing following heavy rains since Sunday night. Bhopal received 29 cm of rain in a span of five hours, a record unheard of in the past 70 years, MET sources said.
The Madhya Pradesh government has sought Army’s help to evacuate people from the low-lying areas which have been inundated. Power supply to many areas of the state capital has been snapped.
To protest against the local administration’s inept handling of the situation, local residents of the city came out on streets.
At Kachchi Chhola in old Bhopal, angry mob indulged in stone pelting when a relief operation team reached the spot on Monday.
Meteorological office said more rainfall is expected as a depression in Bay of Bengal is advancing in the north-east direction. In the next 48 hours, Bhopal is likely to get more heavy rains.
Met office said in 1973 Bhopal had recorded 27 cm of rainfall in 24 hours. It started drizzling around 10 pm on Sunday. By midnight, rains lashed across the city of lakes, sweeping away people and animals.
Five hours later, the massive lakes were overflowing. Though the meteorological office had warned of heavy showers 72 hours before it started, the state administration was not prepared for such a situation.
CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan announced an ex-gratia of Rs 50,000 for family members of each killed person. In Bairagarh area, a wall of the Sadhu Baswani College collapsed, killing five persons of a family.
At Barganga slum areas, a woman and her two children were washed away. Bodies of the infants were recovered, but the woman is still missing. Bodies of two more children were found in Panchsheel Nagar.
Sixty-five km away, the engine of the Mumbai-bound Gorakhpur Express derailed near Midghat railway station as rain waters flooded the tracks. No one was injured.

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