Over 26,000 people rescued from 5 flood-hit states: NDRF

New Delhi, Aug 22: More than 26,400 people have so far been rescued by the NDRF from the flood-ravaged areas in Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and other states.

The National Disaster Response Force has fanned out 56 rescue and relief teams to help people hit by heavy rains in various states and tasked two Deputy Inspector General-rank officers in Bihar and UP with monitoring the situation.

"So far, the NDRF teams have evacuated more than 26,400 people from various flood-prone areas in the country this monsoon season. Besides the rescue work, these teams have provided medical care to the more than 9,100 people in these states," the force said.

The rescue operations are underway in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. In Bihar yesterday, NDRF teams evacuated 3,400 people from Didarganj, 580 from Bakhtiyarpur, 545 from Danapur, 380 from Chhapra, 355 from Vaishali and 15 from Maner in Patna.

The force said 11 flood rescue teams rescued 275 people from Ballia, 275 from Varanasi and 325 from Chitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh yesterday. 147 marooned people were shifted to safer places from Rewa district in Madhya Pradesh yesterday.

"An NDRF team pre-positioned in Sikkim conducted similar operations in Tingbung and Lingdang villages and evacuated more than 450 people yesterday," it said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today promised total support to these flood-hit states in conduct of rescue and relief operations. He said Home Minister Rajnath Singh is closely monitoring the situation and has spoken to chief ministers of of these states.

Singh had a telephonic conversation with chief ministers Akhilesh Yadav (UP), Harish Rawat (Uttarakhand), Nitish Kumar (Bihar) and Vasundhara Raje (Rajasthan) this morning and took stock of the flood situation in their respective states.

PTI