IMD issues red alert for 4 districts in Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal, Aug 20: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday issued a red alert warning of very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in four districts of Madhya Pradesh, as intermittent showers continued to lash in large parts of the state.

The IMD has issued red alert for Narsinghpur, Damoh, Sagar and Chhatarpur districts warning of rainfall of 115.6 mm or more, and declared an orange alert and a yellow alert forecasting heavy showers and lightning for parts of the state, an official said.

The orange alert forecasts likely heavy to very heavy showers, ranging between 64.5 mm and 204.4 mm, at isolated places in the districts of Bhopal, Narmadapuram, Rewa, Gwalior and Chambal divisions and 18 more districts, including Jabalpur, he said. The yellow alert warns of thunderstorms with lightning at isolated places in the districts of Bhopal, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Chambal, Shahdol, Rewa and Sagar divisions, the official said.

The alerts are valid till Sunday morning, it was stated. The fresh spell of rain, which started on Friday evening, is likely to continue until Tuesday, senior meteorologist Ved Prakash Singh of the IMD's Bhopal centre said.

A deep depression was active over south Jharkhand and adjoining Chhattisgarh, and it is likely to move west northwest wards in the next 24 hours. It will enter the northeastern part of Madhya Pradesh after weakening into a depression, he said. The deep depression has caused rainfall in eastern Madhya Pradesh and its adjoining areas. The trend will cover the entire state on Sunday, the official added.

According to the IMD, large parts of the state received rainfall on Saturday. Among them, Guna district recorded 44.0 mm showers from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm. In the last 24 ending at 8.30 am on Saturday, Umaria district in eastern Madhya Pradesh received 86.9 mm rain.