A couple died as heavy rainfall and subsequent release of excess water from dams led to a flood-like situation in parts of Rajasthan's Kota and Jhalawar districts and surrounding areas, officials said on Monday.

Thousands were evacuated from low-lying areas across districts, they said. In Kota, Jhalawar and Bundi, the administration declared a holiday in government and private schools on Tuesday. Schools were closed on Monday also.

Kota was the worst affected among the three districts. In Tonk district's Mandawara village, a 40-year-old woman, Samodara Meena, slipped into a flooded drain behind her house. Her husband Babu Lal Meena, 45, jumped into the drain to rescue her but both of them died, deputy superintendent of police, Uniyara, Khalil Ahmed said. In Kota, approximately 3,500 people were shifted from low-lying areas to safer places and temporary shelters as the areas were submerged following rainfall and release of water from the Kota barrage.

"As many as 1,500 people have been shifted to safer places from low-lying areas in Kota. School buildings are being used as temporary shelters," Kota District Collector OP Bunkar said.State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams have also been pressed into service, he said. Earlier in the day, Bunka visited the low-lying areas, including Nayapura Kacchi Basit and Balita road, and directed officials to make all necessary arrangements in view of the heavy rains and release of water from the Kota barrage.

The inflow of water in the Kota barrage over the Chambal river increased due to rainfall in the catchment area of the Rana Pratap Sagar dam (Chittorgarh) and the Jawahar Sagar dam (Kota), a Kota district administration official said. According to the official, 14 of the 19 gates of the barrage have been opened so far.Nearly 3.83 lakh cusecs of water has been released from the barrage. The authorities plan to release 5.75 lakh cusecs, the official said.

Alerts were sounded before the barrage gates were opened. After the water was released, several low-lying areas were submerged, he said.Water also entered houses in Talwandi, Purana Kota, Bajrang Nagar, Jawahar Nagar, Station Road and Balaji Nagar areas and people had a hard time commuting, he said. A seven-ft-long crocodile entered a residential area in Pragati Nagar, triggering panic among residents. The reptile was later rescued, the officials said.Schools and coaching centres were closed in Kota and Bundi on Monday. Schools will remain closed on Tuesday as well, they said.In Jhalawar, 2.8 lakh cusecs of water was released from the Kalisindh dam and 25,200 cusecs from the Bhim Sagar dam, they said.

According to the meteorological department, extremely heavy rainfall was recorded in isolated areas in Kota and Jhalawar during the 24-hour period that ended at 8:30 am on Monday.

Dag in Jhalawar recorded the highest rainfall at 234 mm, followed by 224 mm in Kota city during this period, the meteorological department said.On Monday, Kota recorded 24.7 mm of rainfall, Anta in Baran 25.5 mm, Bundi 24.4 mm and Chittorgarh 24 mm.

Several other areas recorded less than 24 mm of rainfall.Many areas in Bundi, Baran, Chittorgarh, Sawai Madhopur, Dausa and Karauli also recorded heavy to very heavy rainfall.The meteorological department has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places in Banswara and Dungarpur, and heavy rainfall at isolated places in Bhilwara and Chittorgarh during the next 24 hours.