The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday issued red and orange alerts for total 22 districts in Madhya Pradesh as intensity of rainfall across the state is expected to range from extremely heavy to very heavy.
Red alert is issued for five districts while seventeen districts are under orange alert. The alerts are valid till Sunday morning, a senior IMD official informed.
The red alert, for heavy to very heavy as well as extremely heavy rainfall, was for isolated places in Satna, Guna, Sheopur, Chhattarpaur and Tikamgarh, most of these districts being located in north MP along the border with the southern part of Uttar Pradesh, said PK Saha, senior meteorologist with IMD's Bhopal office.
An orange alert, denoting heavy to very heavy rainfall in the 64.5 millimetre to 204.4 millimetre range, is for isolated places in 17 districts, namely Shahdol, Umaria, Anuppur, Rewa, Sidhi, Singrauli, Panna, Damoh, Sagar, Neemuch, Mandsaur, Ashok Nagar, Shivpuri, Gwalior, Datia, Bhind and Morena.
Saha said the red alert for five districts was due to a well-marked low pressure area lying over south-west Bihar and neighbouring regions which is now likely to move west and north-west and then to the southern part of UP in the next two days.
He said Sarai area in Singrauli district received the highest rainfall, of 122.4 millimetres, in east MP in a 24-hour period ending at 8:30am on Saturday, while in west MP, the highest rainfall, of 240 millimetres, was in Karahal in Sheopur.
(With PTI Inputs)
