Jaipur: A six-year-old girl was among three people who drowned after rainwater gushed into the basement of their house in Vishwakarma area here early Thursday morning, officials said. Three people, including a woman, riding on a motorcycle on a bridge were swept away by the overflowing Kalisindh river in Rajasthan's Jhalawar district at around 4 pm on Thursday.
Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma chaired a meeting of senior officials to review the situation created due to incessant rainfall and gave necessary directions.
Kamal Shah (23), Pooja Saini (19) and her niece Purvi Saini drowned in rainwater that gushed into the basement of their house in the Vishwakarma area in Jaipur. After the water entered the basement of their houses at around 4 am, the families began removing their belongings, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) West Amit Kumar said. The passage to the basement of the house is narrow and deep.
During this time, three people from two families got trapped in the basement as it started filling with water, Kumar said, adding that a rescue operation was initiated and the rainwater was pumped out. The bodies were recovered by the SDRF during a rescue operation that lasted several hours, the police said.
Expressing condolences over the incident, CM Sharma directed officials to provide financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the family of each deceased. An approval to grant Rs 4 lakh from the disaster relief fund and Rs 1 lakh from the chief minister's relief fund has been given, officials said.
Deputy CM Diya Kumari visited the family members of the deceased and expressed condolences. She said that efforts have been made to address the problem of water logging in the area. On the other hand, the residents of the area have been advised not to stay in their basements during rainfall, the police said.
The bodies of the victims have been shifted to Kanwatiya Government Hospital for postmortem, the police said, all the victims are natives of Bihar. The bodies were handed over after postmortem.
In Jhalawar, three people, including a woman, riding on a motorcycle on a bridge were swept away by the overflowing Kalisindh river this afternoon, Mandawar SHO Mahaveer Prasad said. They have not been identified yet, he said. A search operation was launched but none of them could be traced till the evening, he added.
In Jaipur's Bagru area, a 15-year-old boy, identified as Piyush Acharya, was swept away in a drain. He was rescued and rushed to a nearby hospital where he died, the police said. Due to heavy rains that started on Wednesday night, most areas of Jaipur city were waterlogged, which continued till morning.
Rainwater accumulated on roads and in residential areas in the state capital, causing significant commuting issues. Waterlogging was also witnessed outside the Jaipur airport terminal building. Jaipur Collector Prakash Raj Purohit visited rain-affected areas, such as Vishwakarma area, Sikar Road and Jaipur airport, and directed officials to make necessary arrangements for the situation.
Several schools in Jaipur declared a holiday due to the continued rainfall. In Churu, a nearly 100-year-old building located at Bhai Ji Chowk collapsed due to heavy rains. However, no one was injured. During heavy rains in Kota, a bus overturned and fell into a 20-foot-deep ditch, leaving four passengers injured while 31 passengers were evacuated.
Heavy rains in Phagi town of Dudu district flooded the roads. During this, a roadways bus full of passengers got stuck in the water. Local people pulled it out with a tractor. Rainwater accumulated on roads and residential areas in many parts of the state capital, causing traffic to crawl. Waterlogging was also reported outside the Jaipur airport terminal building.
Passengers faced trouble entering the terminal in the early hours of the day. Meanwhile, CM Sharma took a meeting through video conference and directed officials to the field and take stock of the situation and ensure immediate relief to the public in case of disaster.
He instructed the officials to identify old and dilapidated buildings during the monsoon season so that any kind of damage could be prevented in time. The CM also asked the medical and health department officials to ensure adequate availability of medical facilities to prevent seasonal diseases, according to a release.
According to the Jaipur Meteorological Centre, Jaipur, Karauli, Sawai Madhopur, Alwar, Churu, Bharatpur, Tonk, Sikar, Hanumangarh, Dholpur, Nagaur and Jhunjhunu recorded heavy to very heavy rainfall in a period of 24 hours till 8.30 am on Thursday.
Jaipur recorded the highest rainfall of 173 mm during this period, the weather office said, adding that from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm on Thursday, Ganganagar recorded a maximum of 48 mm of rain while several other areas recorded below 48 mm of rain.
The department has predicted rainfall at many places in Jaipur, Kota, Bharatpur, Ajmer, Bikaner, Jodhpur and Udaipur divisions during the next 24 hours.
