In Ashapur in Khandua district, 177 students of a government residential school for tribal girls, had a narrow escape on Monday when the school premises got flooded. The residential school is located near the Agri river which was overflowing after heavy rain.
The overflowing river water entered the school premises on Monday afternoon and the level soon rose up to 6 to 7 feet. The girls were forced to rush to the roof of the building where they had to stay put for hours till rescue teams reached them.
One of the students, Chaya Chauhan later narrated the ordeal. She said: "It was raining since early morning. We were studying in our class when water suddenly entered our building. We could not go anywhere as water was flowing all around us. Our clothes, food, books, etc were washed away."
The terrified girls were stuck on the roof for over six hours.
Rescue teams reached them in the evening and evacuated them to a safer place.
In Sunderdev village of Khandua district, many people were rendered homeless after their shanties were washed away by the flood water from a nearby drain. District Education Officer G L Raguvanshi said: "Schools were closed in the area on Tuesday in view of the heavy rain."
In Burhanpur district, water from the overflowing Tapti river entered the low lying areas, creating a flood like situation there. Several villages in Nepanagar have been cut off.
In Sehore district, the Parvati river was overflowing due to which water entered the surrounding areas.
Even in the state capital Bhopal, heavy rain has affected normal life badly. On Monday, the city recorded 166 mm rainfall till 1 p.m. The Flood Control Department pressed pumps into service to drain out the water from the low lying areas.
The Met Department has forecast more rain in 26 districts of the state including Bhopal, Ujjain, Indore, Guna, Sehore and Ashok Nagar.
( With inputs from IANS )