Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s proposed visit on September 1 has added pace to relief work in Chhattisgarh. Chief Minister Ajit Jogi was busy making aerial surveys of flood-affected areas today — supervising relief work and dropping food packets for over 200 families stranded in the three districts of Raigarh, Jangir-Champa and Raipur.This morning, the Army was called out in Chhattisgarh to assist the local administration, following reports that relief parties are not being able to reach several villages on either side of the Mahanadi for the past 24 hours.The venue of the 12-day Congress Seva Dal meeting at Champaran, about 55 km from Raipur, is also under several feet of water. The delegates were shifted to safer places today. Sonia is supposed to address the representatives here on September 1. Before her arrival, the state government is working overtime to ensure that relief reaches all the affected families in the area.In two other districts — Raigarh and Raipur — flood waters have cut off villages like Chanderpur for the past 24 hours.The government, till this afternoon, had no particular information about the families stranded in the flood-affected districts. Jogi, who made a brief stopover in Raipur during the aerial survey, said ‘‘the situation was grim and unprecedented’’.At least 10 persons are feared to have been washed away, while the damage to public and private property, including roads, bridges, schools and houses, has been pegged at Rs 10 crore so far. ‘‘People are standing on rooftops, waiting for relief parties to reach them and organise their evacuation,’’ Jogi said. The exact figures of loss are being compiled and would not exceed the initial estimates of Rs 5-10 crore, he said, before leaving with food packets for Shivri Narayan — the worst-affected area in Jangir-Champa. Dozens of villages like Basna, Pithora and Saraipali of Mahasaund district and Samodha, Kashdol and Bhilaigarh of Raipur are still under 2-3 feet water.‘‘Army teams are expected to report either tonight or early tomorrow from Sagar (Madhya Pradesh) and would be deployed to assist the local administration in organising relief and construction measures,’’ says Relief Commissioner M.K. Raut.
