Satna (Madhya Pradesh) [India], August 31 (ANI): Residents in flood-affected areas of Chitrakoot in Madhya Pradesh are facing severe hardships as homes and shops remain damaged, with streets covered in mud and sludge following heavy flooding in the region.
The flood situation in Chitrakoot worsened after the Mandakini River swelled, causing damage to infrastructure, including the Ramghat bridge, and affecting several nearby villages.
Resident Manoj Kumar highlighted the extent of the damage caused by the floods, saying several bridges were damaged and people in nearby villages suffered losses of livestock, food grains and household items.
Speaking to ANI, Manoj said, "The situation is very pathetic. The bridge here, which connects Ramghat to Hanuman Dhara, has broken. The Karwi bridge is also completely damaged. The condition is very bad. You can see the scene here in the city, around Ramghat. But I have also visited the nearby villages like Malkhana, Delora, and Gobariya, where the situation is heartbreaking. People's goats, cows, and buffaloes have been swept away. Children's notebooks and books are completely ruined. Their food grains, like paddy and wheat, are all spoiled. It's truly a heart-wrenching sight. Cleaning work is going on, but people don't even have proper arrangements for food and water yet. There is some hope from the government that they will help and provide appropriate compensation."
Another resident, Suresh Pal, said the floods had left many people homeless and struggling to recover from the damage.
Pal said, "The difficulty is such that we have become homeless. What more can I say? I don't see any facilities here. It's been two days, and there's still difficulty even moving on the roads. Since we are homeless, we should at least be able to gather our belongings, but there's no such facility. Cleaning work is going on, even at night, but there is mud and many problems. I only have what I am wearing right now; everything else has been swept away. Whatever little we could save, the rain is so heavy that we are living on the terrace, in the open, with our belongings. We are just surviving. I have never seen such a flood in my life."
"This flood is one and a half times worse than the one in 2003. We were stuck on our terrace two days ago. We were so stuck that no boats could reach us, and there was no administrative help. But by the grace of Mother Ganga, we survived. Now that we have survived, we are seeing the world; otherwise, the situation was so bad that we didn't think there would be a tomorrow for us," He added.
Meanwhile, the Satna administration has launched relief and restoration operations in flood-affected areas of Chitrakoot, where streets, homes and commercial establishments were covered with mud and sludge.
Teams from Smart City Satna and the Satna Municipal Corporation have been deployed for cleaning operations, while sanitation workers and fire brigade personnel are working to remove silt deposits from roads and restore basic services. The administration has also started supplying food and drinking water through tankers to affected residents returning to their homes.
The district administration said more than 350 people have been rescued from flood-affected areas of Satna district, with State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams continuing rescue operations.
Authorities have advised people living in vulnerable areas to move to temporary shelters set up by the administration amid rising water levels. In Birsinghpur, SDRF teams rescued a man identified as Ashok Dohar, who was surrounded by water on all sides. (ANI)
Madhya Pradesh: Flood-hit Chitrakoot residents recount devastation as Mandakini river swells, homes remain submerged
