Over 14 lakh people were affected due to floods in five river systems of Odisha, said the State government here on Sunday. Seventeen people have lost their lives due to wall collapse and by slipping into swollen rivers.

“Heavy rain triggered by back-to-back low pressure area over Bay of Bengal had caused flooding in 20 districts. The situation is fast improving in areas falling under Subarnrekha, Burhabalanga, Baitarani and Brahmani river systems,” said Pradeep Jena, MD of the State Disaster Management Authority.

In Madhya Pradesh, more than 11,000 persons stuck in floods in the southern and the western parts had been rescued in the past two days by the Army, Air Force and disaster response forces, said Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday.

As many as 454 villages in 12 districts were severely battered by floods, he said. “And the Narmada has broken the record of flooding in 1999. Several cities are under floods owing to the overflowing Narmada,” he said. Besides, 9,300 persons had been taken to 170 relief camps.

In Gujarat, torrential rainfall on Sunday created a flood-like situation in many areas including Bharuch, where over 2,000 people from inundated areas along the Narmada river were evacuated following release of water from the Sardar Sarovar dam.

The IMD has in its forecast warned heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy showers at isolated places in many districts in the State till Tuesday.

(With inputs from

Bhopal and Ahmedabad)