Mandakini Rises Again In Chitrakoot Days After Record Floods

Chitrakoot faced a fresh flood alert on Monday as the Mandakini River began rising again, days after one of the worst floods in the pilgrimage town in decades. Authorities issued warnings to residents, shopkeepers and others living or working near Ramghat and other low-lying areas, urging them to move to safer locations. The renewed rise has raised concerns as the town continues to assess extensive damage caused by the earlier flooding.

Torrential rainfall in the catchment areas of eastern Madhya Pradesh had caused the Mandakini to swell rapidly over the weekend, inundating homes, hotels, temples, dharamshalas and hundreds of shops on both sides of the Madhya Pradesh-Uttar Pradesh border. Officials said water levels crossed those recorded during the devastating 2003 floods. Nearly 1,000 people were rescued during the initial emergency, with the Indian Air Force, SDRF and other rescue teams involved in evacuation operations.

The flooding caused significant damage to infrastructure and religious landmarks in the area. A major portion of the nearly 300-metre bridge connecting the Ramghat-Nayagaon stretch with the Hanuman Dhara side was washed away or badly damaged, affecting movement between the two states. Tulsi Ghat also suffered extensive damage, while more than 400 shops were inundated. Authorities on the Madhya Pradesh side reported no deaths during the initial rescue operations, while local reports from Uttar Pradesh reported two deaths and one person missing.

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The impact has extended to several villages in Satna district, where swollen rivers and continued rainfall have damaged houses, roads, standing crops and livestock. Schools across Satna district were ordered to remain closed on August 31 and September 1 for students from nursery to Class 12 because of heavy rainfall, swollen rivers and disrupted connectivity. A heavy rain alert has also been issued for 11 districts in eastern Madhya Pradesh, including Rewa, Sidhi, Shahdol, Dindori, Anuppur, Mandla, Seoni and Balaghat.

The situation has also remained critical around the Bansagar Dam in Shahdol district, where six gates were opened on Sunday after a sharp increase in inflows. About 2,454 cubic metres per second of water was being released into the Son River, prompting authorities to place 24 downstream villages in Sidhi district on alert. Singrauli has also reported flood-related damage, including serious damage to a bridge along the Singrauli-Sidhi road corridor, while heavy rain has affected parts of Mandla, Panna, Tikamgarh and the wider Vindhya-Bundelkhand region.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, who visited Chitrakoot on Sunday, described the flooding as record-breaking and warned that the next two to three days would remain critical. He directed officials to stay in affected areas, conduct house-to-house surveys and assess the extent of losses, including the possible role of encroachments along vulnerable stretches. The administration has also been instructed to ensure food, clean drinking water and other essentials reach affected residents and pilgrims while restoration of damaged roads, bridges and public infrastructure continues.

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