Bhopal, July 2 : A private van carrying schoolchildren collided with a road divider during heavy rainfall in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, early on Wednesday. Fortunately, the children escaped unharmed and were helped out of the vehicle by passersby.

The incident occurred at the Shubhash Nagar overbridge in the city when the van was taking children to their school.

Following the incident, local area police swung into action and reached at spot, and the children were returned to their homes.

There has been heavy rainfall in Bhopal and the other surrounding districts -- Sehore, Raisen, Vidisha, and several other parts of the state since early morning.

Districts such as Betul, Sheopur, Shivpuri, Chhindwara, Mandla, Narsinghpur, Umaria, Rewa, Sidhi, Raisen and a few others received heavy rainfall in the last 24 hours, according to India Meteorological Department's (IMD) report.

The IMD has also predicted moderate to heavy rainfall in different parts of the state, including Bhopal, Ujjain, Anuppur, Mauganj, Rewa, Maihar, Panna, Satna, Shivpuri, Shahdol, Vidisha, Raisen, Niwari, and Rajgarh in the next 24 hours.

A yellow alert has been issued in Jabalpur, Gwalior, and Indore districts.

Senior weather scientist at the divisional IMD official in Bhopal, Dr E. Surendran, said the monsoon is passing over the state. Additionally, secondary cyclonic circulation systems are influencing the weather conditions.

The IMD said that a low-pressure system over Gujarat's Saurashtra and Kutch regions was active, the effects of which could reach Madhya Pradesh in the next 48 hours.

Due to heavy rainfall predicted in the coming days, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has directed officials to ensure all necessary arrangements for the safety of people are made due to heavy rainfall. He has also directed officials to keep a close watch on all religious places in the state.

After two hours of continued heavy rainfall from 4.30 a.m. to 6.30 a.m., people, especially office-goers, got a much-needed respite from the rain. However, the sky remained cloudy with a wind flow.

The day temperature in Bhopal on Tuesday was recorded at 29.4 degrees Celsius, while the night temperature was 24.2 degrees, according to IMD shared on Wednesday morning.

/IANS