bhopal

Updated: Aug 23, 2016 14:09 IST

Madhya Pradesh has recorded 40% excess rainfall this season, the highest in the country, which has claimed the lives of 101 people and affected 3.5 lakh in floods.

While rains subsided in the state on Monday, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan directed officials to keep ready all arrangements for those affected in the recent floods in Rewa, Satna and Panna districts and to take measures to prevent outbreak of diseases.

According to the Meteorological Department, between June 1 and August 21, the state recorded 947.1 mm rainfall against the normal of 676.1 mm for the same period.

At least 101 people died in rain-related incidents, with 28 losing their lives on Saturday.

The rains led to rise in river levels and flooding as the lives of 3.5 lakh were affected and 48,322 have been shifted to safer places.

Heavy rains and floods in 2013 had caused devastating damage across the state and claimed around 390 lives.

Maithili Sharan Gupt, director general, state disaster response force (SDRF) and home guards, told HT since June 15, over 100 people have drowned in floods.

“Apart from drowning, 48-50 people have died in collapse of various structures. 150 died in lightning strikes alone,” he said.

Of the 51 districts, 30 recorded excess rainfall, leading to floods in Bhopal, Panna, Vidisha, Raisen, Chhatarpur, Rewa, Satna, Hoshangabad and Betul.

Deficient rainfall was recorded in three districts—Barwani, Agar Malwa and Balaghat.

Bhopal recorded the highest rainfall in 43 years on July 9, with flood affecting 80,000 people and damaging 1,535 houses. The city has so far received 1240.8 mm of rainfall.

Though Madhya Pradesh has been witnessing deficient rainfall for nearly a decade, climate experts have predicted an overall increase in the extreme rainfall events.

HT had reported that experts from Pune’s Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Ashwini Kulkarni and Savita Patwardhan, predicted that towards the middle of the century, the mean seasonal rainfall in MP may increase by 5-20% while towards the end of the century, it may increase by around 20-40%, with more wet over western parts.

The climate change simulations also show that in general the number of rainy days was projected to decrease in MP, but their intensity might increase, resulting in more extreme rainfall events.