Water released from dams caused large-scale flooding in several districts of Rajasthan on Sunday. The floods led to the evacuation of thousands of people, including children and schoolteachers, NDTV reported.

In Chittorgarh’s Rawatbhata town, rescue personnel are making efforts to rescue 25 teachers and 318 students from a private school. Water was released from the Ratnapratap Dam on Sunday, flooding the school and trapping the inmates.

“The children and teachers are safe and the school management has shifted them to another building of the school,” a district administration official said. “They can be rescued when the water level comes down.” If the water does not recede by Monday, those trapped might be airlifted, the official added.

“Students of Adarsh Vidya Mandir school were stranded because of an overflowing rivulet that separates the Rawatbhata town from the school,” Rawatbhata Sub-Division Magistrate Ramswaroop Gurjar said, according to the Hindustan Times. He said the school administration was asked not to take classes due to the incessant rains, but did not follow the advice.

Gurjar said a police team has managed to reach the site and is waiting for the rainfall to recede.

The weather department has predicted heavy to very heavy rains in Baran, Chittorgarh, Jhalawar and Kota districts during the next 24 hours. Kota District Collector Muktanand Agrawal said that a record 6.93 lakh cusecs of water has been discharged from 19 gates of the Kota Barrage in a day. Over 5,000 people have been rescued from the district so far.

Agrawal said more water needs to be released from the dam. “The army, administration, NDRF [National Disaster Response Force], State Disaster Response Force and civil defence teams are on alert to meet any eventuality,” he said.

Madhya Pradesh

Meanwhile, 800 people were rescued from flooded villages in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, NDTV reported. A 50-member team of the National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force rescued 250 residents from Bhadankhurd village, 550 villagers from Dodar and 50 from Aalot.

“All the rescued villagers are safe and have been shifted to safer shelters and rendered food and medical facilities,” Ratlam Superintendent of Police Gaurav Tiwari said.

Bajna town in Ratlam recorded 257 millimetre of rain over 24 hours, but State Disaster Response Force Additional Director General DC Sagar said there is a shortage of rescue personnel. He assured that the area will get over 140 rescue personnel in a week.

“In a situation like Bajna we need surgical and strategic deployment,” Sagar said. “After the call from SP Ratlam we immediately moved our highly trained and motivated personnel from Badwani and Indore.”

The weather department has predicted very heavy rains over next 24 hours for ten districts of west and south-west Madhya Pradesh, including Mandsaur, Neemuch, Ratlam, Shajapur and Agar-Malwa. It has issued an orange alert for heavy rains for 12 other districts.

At least 205 people have been killed in floods and flood-related incidents this monsoon in Madhya Pradesh.

Assam in the North East was one of the earliest states to be ravaged by floods, followed by Maharashtra and Kerala. By mid-August, states in central India began to flood

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