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Updated: Aug 16, 2019 23:44 IST

Bhopal

Parts of western Madhya Pradesh continued to reel under floods caused by incessant rain, officials said on Friday, adding that the death toll from flood-related incidents has reached 70 in the state.

However, the intensity of rain lessened in rest of the state on Friday.

“Of the 70 people, 15 died due to lightning,” GV Rashmi, additional secretary, revenue department, said, adding,“The floods had happened in isolated parts of the state. An alert had been sounded in the state.”

Fresh rains were expected by Saturday morning, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Heavy downpour had thrown normal life out of gear in the past few days.

R R Tripathi of IMD Bhopal said heavy rainfall may occur in the districts of Agar-Malwa, Sheopur, Ratlam, Neemuch, Mandsaur, Shajapur, Guna and Rajgarh by Saturday morning.

Showers were also expected in isolated places in the rest of the state, he added.

Sluice gates of six big and medium reservoirs including Indira Sagar Dam in Khandwa district have been opened as the reservoirs were full, said water resources department’s executive engineer Kamlesh Raikwar.

An alert was issued to downstream areas before discharging the water, he added.

A joint team of local police and State Disaster Emergency Response Force rescued as many as 117 villagers in Shivpuri on Friday, according to the police.

Talking to media persons superintendent of police, Shivpuri Rajesh Singh Chandel said, “There were 17 children among 117 people rescued successfully. We are keeping a close watch on the situation and alert has been sounded in the entire district.”

Meanwhile, the bodies of two teachers and their car driver who were swept away by flood waters near Mahidpur, were retrieved by the police in Ujjain district on Thursday.

The two teachers were returning from their school in the car. On the way, the driver, Radheshayam, ignored the warning from locals and drove the vehicle over a bridge which was submerged in the flood waters, leading to the accident, according to the police.

In Ratlam and Shajapur, schools were closed on Friday. The Sindh river in Gwalior-Chambal region was overflowing affecting Ashok Nagar, Guna and Shivpuri districts, officials said. In Mandsaur, flood water started entering the houses, forcing people to take shelters on their roofs and terraces.

In Chhatarpur in Bundelkhand region, 11 farmers were rescued who were trapped in flood waters, district disaster management officials said.

According to the officials of the revenue department, 23 people sustained injuries in flood-related incidents; as many as 4,298 people have been displaced, 214 cattle died and crops in 2,368 hectares of land have been damaged.

Rashmi said relief measures were being undertaken at various places, including setting up of temporary camps, providing compensation to those whose crops or houses had been damaged among others.

(PTI contributed to this story )