Rajasthan floods: More than 200 rescued; red alert continues as rain looms
As flood continues to wreak havoc in many districts across Rajasthan, rescuers are bracing for more trouble with the Met office predicting heavy rain.
Two Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters which resumed operations Tuesday morning rescued seven people stranded on a tree in flood-affected Jalore of south-west Rajasthan.
On Monday, bad weather and low clouds had scuttled four bids by the choppers to rescue the seven people.
Meanwhile, schools in five districts – Jalore, Pali, Sirohi, Jodhpur and Barmer – are closed on Tuesday in view of predictions of abnormal rain in next 48 hours in these districts. Jodhpur’s Jai Narayan Vyas University cancelled all its exams for Tuesday and Wednesday.
Jodhpur divisional commissioner Ratan Lahoti told HT on the phone that more than 200 stranded people have been evacuated to safety between Monday and Tuesday. Three Army columns have been deployed in different areas of Jalore where road connectivity has snapped. Two teams of NDRF and SDRF each are also engaged in rescue operations in the flood-affected areas, he added.
Defence spokesperson Lt Col Manish Ojha told HT that two helicopters took off from Jodhpur IAF base for rescue operation in Jalore on Tuesday and evacuated stranded people.
Read more: Flood fury in Rajasthan, schools closed, IAF choppers fail to rescue stranded people
While details of rainfall in the state in last 24 hours were not available yet, reports suggested there had been a break in rainfall in several of the flood-affected districts.
The Jodhpur division, which comprises Jodhpur, Barmer, Jaisalmer, Jalore, Pali and Sirohi districts, has so far received abnormal rain (60% more than the normal) between June 1 and July 24. In terms of districts, barring Sirohi, all districts got abnormal rains.
