New Delhi: The floods in Madhya Pradesh have required more than 46,000 people to be evacuated from around 125 villages primarily in Mandsaur and Neemach. Given the scenario, the district collector of Ujjain – which is also staring at a flood-like situation after having received 52% surplus rainfall in the last couple of days – has sought divine intervention, Times of India reported.
Ujjain collector Shashank Mishra will thus be holding ‘special prayers’ at the banks of the Kshipra river to try and ‘appease the gods’ in order to minimise damage from floods.
“Ujjain is an old religious and spiritual city. There are certain traditions and beliefs of the city. In accordance with the same, prayers were offered for peace, security and for the angry river to calm down with stoppage of excessive rainfall,” Mishra said.
This is not the first time that such ‘techniques’ have been used to try and minimise environmental damage. For instance, last year in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut, a Hindu organisation performed a nine-day mahayajna and burned 50,000 kilograms of wood to ‘curb pollution’.
Also read: India Accounts for a Fifth of Global Deaths From Floods
In July this year when Madhya Pradesh had been in need of rain, two frogs had been infamously ‘married’ to ‘please the gods’ and bring rain. The rains did come but when they eventually caused floods, a divorce was facilitated.
The flood situation in Madhya Pradesh has now turned severe as heavy rainfall has continued. Flooding has been reported from Sagar, Damoh, Mandsaur and Neemach districts.
Mandsaur alone has received 1,927 millimetres of rain since June 1, while the average rainfall for this period has stood at 742 mm. Neemuch received 243 mm of rain in a 24 hour period between Saturday and Sunday.
The state of Madhya Pradesh has received 33% excess rainfall this season, according to the Indian Meteorological Department.
As many as 202 people have died in the floods, according to a report in the New Indian Express. The IMD has forecast heavy rainfall to continue in parts of the state for the next 24 hours.