Police personnel at the site, as a portion of the NH-30 was inundated following heavy rainfall, in Bastar. File
| Photo Credit: PTI
A family from Tamil Nadu — a couple and their two minor daughters — after the car they were travelling in was washed away by floodwaters in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district, the police said on Wednesday (August 27, 2025).
According to the police, when the accident happened, the victims Rajesh Kumar G (43), his wife Pavithra (40), and their two daughters Saujainya (7) and Saumaiyya (4), along with a driver Lala Yadu, were trying to drive through a flooded culvert. Mr Yadu, however, survived by holding on to a tree for several hours.
The car was being driven by Rajesh Kumar, a construction contractor who hails from Tamil Nadu and has been living in Raipur for the past several years. They were headed to Tamil Nadu via Bastar and Sukma district when they decided to take a U-turn due to heavy downpour and returned to Kanger Valley National Park, where the current was strong, leading to the accident.
Bastar Superintendent of Police Shalabh Sinha told The Hindu that while the call was received on Tuesday (August 26) morning, the State Disaster Response Force could only start the rescue work much later owing to the strong currents.
By late afternoon, Mr. Yadu was saved, while the bodies of the remaining four were found in the car. Mr. Yadu told the police that Rajesh Kumar was driving while he was seated in the front passenger seat and managed to get out as that door wasn’t jammed, unlike the remaining three.
In another part of Bastar district on Tuesday (August 25), six stranded civilians, including women and children, were rescued by an Indian Air Force team in a helicopter in Bastar district.
In response to the devastating floods in Bastar district, the Indian Air Force rapidly launched HADR (Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief) operations on Tuesday, 26 Aug 2025 to rescue trapped civilians, said
Torrential rains continued in the entire Bastar region as flood-like conditions persisted in Dantewada, Bijapur and Bastar districts. Relief efforts are underway in Lohandiguda, Darbha and Tokapal development blocks of Bastar district, it said.
More than 100 villages, each in Bijapur, Dantewada and Bastar districts, have been cut off from the district headquarters due to the torrential downpour over the past two days. SDRF and police personnel were deployed for the timely evacuation of the people stranded amid floods, a government official said.
Dr. Gayatri Vani, Scientist and Incharge from the State weather forecasting services, IMD, Raipur, told The Hindu that in the past 24 hours, Sukma recorded extremely heavy rainfall, while that in Bastar, Dantewada and Narayanpur districts was in the very heavy category.
She added that from Thursday (August 28, 2025), the department was expecting some decrease, and from Friday (August 29) the decrease would be significant.
Published – August 27, 2025 08:45 pm IST
