Some 200 villages in Bastar are disconnected due to heavy rain
People living in villages deep in the jungles of Chhattisgarh's Bastar district are trying to get to safer areas amid heavy rainfall, but lack of proper access is forcing them to use dangerous methods to move.
In a video, villagers in Bastar are seen getting ready to cross a big river, which is carrying a strong current and whose water levels have risen due to heavy rain, without a boat.
But they have improvised, at least for children, to cross the river, albeit in a way that is seen as dangerous. In a video shot from the other side of the river, the villagers are seen holding a large cauldron to be used as a boat for children.
The dangerous method involves a child to be placed inside the utensil, after which an adult would tow it across the river, leading to a very high-risk situation as the cauldron would be carried over strong currents of the swollen river.
Some 200 villages in Bastar are disconnected due to heavy rain, sources have said. Traffic on National Highway 30 in Konta, Chatti and Virapuram has come to a standstill, cutting off Chhattisgarh from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
A large portion of the highway has been submerged by rising water levels in Godavari and Shabri. Some 20,000 people from 85 villages in Bijapur are among the worst affected.
The government has opened 18 relief camps in Bastar and 53 in Bijapur. Some 12,000 people from 51 villages in Bastar are affected by rain and floods; 6,400 people in Jagdalpur are the worst hit.