Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Eighteen persons were rescued in Sehore and Bhopal on Friday with the rise in water level in Kolans River due to incessant rains. Twelve of them were rescued from Sehore while 6 were rescued from TTR (The Royal Regalia), Kolukhedi, Bhopal.
Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) team was pressed into service to rescue five hotel employees and a customer.
Twelve persons were rescued from Nonikhedi village, Sehore, according to the district administration. Collector Pravin Singh, SP Mayank Awasthi and Zila Panchayat’s Ashish Tiwari rushed to Nonikhedi village and supervised the rescue operation.
Excessive rain in Sehore led to a drastic rise in the water level in Kolans River triggering flood-like situation in the outskirts of the city on Bhopal–Indore road in Bhopal district on Friday. Shiv Nagar, Mandi, Kolukhedi and Eintkhedi faced the brunt of the flood-like situation. It disrupted vehicular traffic leading to traffic jams in many pockets especially in Karond. Sehore recorded 147 mm (6-inch) rainfall which led to the Kolans River water level rising by 8 feet. This led to a rise in Upper Lake water level. Currently Upper Lake level is 1666.20ft while Full Tank Level (FTL) is 1666.8ft.
The district administration has sounded alert as part of preparations for opening Bhadbhada gates. Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) engineer Ajay Solanki said, “The catchment area of Upper Lake is the Kolans River recorded 6-inch rainfall leading to a flood-like situation in the colonies in outskirt areas. From Thursday night to Friday morning, it rained 6 inches in Ashta of Sehore district, 4 inches in the city and 2 inches in Nasrullah Ganj. Due to this, the Kolans river swelled leading to an increase in the water level of the Upper Lake.” Whenever the Upper Lake is filled to its capacity, the gates of Bhadbhada Dam are opened so that the excess water flows into the Kaliasot dam.
Red alert in districts
A red alert for excessive rainfall in the next 24 hours has been sounded in districts like Sehore, Dewas, Chhindwara and Balaghat. A yellow alert has been sounded in districts like Vidisha, Bhopal, Betul, Harda, Burhanpur, Khandwa, Khargone, Indore, Mandsaur, Shajapur, Agar, Bhind, Singrauli, Anuppur, Dindori, Seoni Mandla and Sagar.
