Warning of extremely heavy rains in five C'garh districts

The Met department has issued a warning of "very heavy rainfall" at few places in five districts of Chhattisgarh, including Raipur.

The department on Wednesday evening also predicted "heavy rains" in next 24 hours in five districts of Bastar division where incessant rains have sent major rivers into spate, disrupting normal life.

"Heavy to very heavy rainfall may occur at one or two places in Raipur, Balodabazar, Mahasamund, Gariaband and Dhamtari districts in next twenty-four hours.

"Similarly, heavy rainfall may occur at one or two places in Narayanpur, Bastar, Bijapur, Dantewada and Sukma districts," meteorologist H P Chandra of the Meteorological Centre, Raipur told PTI Wednesday evening.

Heavy rainfall is expected at one or two places in Kawardha, Bemetara, Bilaspur, Janjgir-Champa, Rajnandgaon, Kanker and Balod districts, he said.

The state has received good showers in the ongoing week, but the deficiency in the rainfall is still at 10 per cent, Chandra said.

Out of 27 districts of the state, 16 are still rain- deficient while five districts have received normal rainfall, he said.

Four districts -- Bastar (998.5 mm), Narayanpur (962. 3 mm), Kondagaon (919.8 mm), Dantewada (1,076.2 mm) have received excess rainfall while Bijapur (1,445 mm) and Sukma (1,101.3 mm) have witnessed "large excess rainfall", he added.

These six districts which have received more than normal rainfall are in the Bastar division.

Raipur district has received 331.1 mm rainfall so far which is 44 per cent deficient than the normal rainfall it receives during monsoon, he said.

The incessant rain in Bastar region, particularly in Sukma, Bijapur and Bastar districts, have led to snapping of road links at various places due to overflowing rivers and rivulets, a local official said.

State Disaster Response Force, Home Guards and officials of various departments have been asked to stay alert to tackle rain-related emergencies.