Rescue operations by Army, NDRF and SDRF continue in flood-hit Kota, Bundi & Sawai Madhopur districts

The Army, NDRF, SDRF, and Civil Defence teams had a busy day carrying out rescue operations in the flooded areas of Kota and Bundi districts. Incessant downpours on Saturday worsened the situation, leaving several villages and localities marooned in Tonk, Sawai Madhopur, Karauli, Bhilwara, and Dholpur districts.

Heavy rains since Friday morning worsened the situation in several areas, with Nimoda Hariji (Kota), Tilswan (Bhilwara), Bhadoti (Sawai Madhopur), Nainwan, Kesoraipatan, and Kaparen (Bundi), along with Banathali and Dev Dham Jodhpuriya (Tonk), being the worst-affected pockets.

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Many villages in Nimoda Hariji in the Digod region of Kota district were inundated by floodwaters, prompting the deployment of the Army on Friday evening to assist NDRF and SDRF teams in evacuating trapped people to safer places. Army teams were also sent to Bundi to assist SDRF and NDRF personnel in the rescue operations.

Nainwan town in Bundi district is grappling with a situation akin to a cloudburst after recording nearly 500 mm of rainfall over the past two days. Most localities of the walled town were inundated, leaving it cut off from nearby villages and towns.

Around 8 to 10 people were stranded in Balapura village, which, along with 4–5 nearby villages, appeared like islands after being flooded by the seasonal rivulet Chakan Nadi. The Army and SDRF rescuers launched efforts to evacuate the stranded residents to safer places.

In Tonk district, around 200 people — mostly Gurjar pilgrims — were trapped in low-lying areas of Banathali and Dev Dham Jodhpuriya villages near Banasthali (Niwai). SDRF and Civil Defence rescue squads had a busy day evacuating those stranded. Most of the pilgrims had gathered to pay obeisance at Dev Dham Jodhpuriya, a renowned shrine of the Gurjar community.

In the Uniara block of the Tonk district, 22 people were trapped on Friday night after heavy discharge from the Galwa Dam. Rescue teams managed to save most of them, though one person remained untraceable.

The situation in the adjoining Sawai Madhopur district also remained grim, with most localities of the old city, along with the railway station and tracks, inundated. The flooding severely disrupted normal life and rail traffic.

In the Karauli district, a youth was swept away in the strong current of a surging rivulet in Bugdar village of the Langra region. The victim, identified as Veer Singh, remained untraced until Saturday evening.

The Chambal river was in spate once again, flowing two metres above the danger mark and inundating several villages along its banks.

Almost half a dozen key road links in the Kota division were disrupted.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, the sitting MP from the Kota–Bundi parliamentary constituency, has been visiting the flood-affected areas. On Friday evening, he toured villages in the Nimoda Hariji area of Digod block in Kota district, while on Saturday, he took stock of the situation in the Kesoraipatan region of Bundi district.

Agriculture and Disaster Response Minister Dr Kirodi Lal Meena has been camping in Sawai Madhopur.