53 pilgrims drown in Madhya Pradesh flash flood

The bodies were taken out from the stretch of the river in Dewas in west Madhya Pradesh.

"We had fished out 37 bodies till Sunday night. Sixteen more bodies were fished out Monday morning," said a senior police official.

"Teams of divers are searching for bodies. We fear that the toll could be more as many people are still missing," he added.

About 200 people whose relatives are still missing are camping at Dharaji in Dewas, where about 300,000 people had gathered on Friday to take a dip in the Narmada during an annual fair.

Water was suddenly released from the Indira Sagar dam, 100 km upstream, leading to the levels rising and people being washed away.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Babulal Gaur visited Dharaji on Monday to take stock of the situation and said families of those killed would get a compensation of Rs100,000 each from the state government.

The Madhya Pradesh government has asked Arvind Joshi, principal secretary in the water resources department, to probe the incident and submit a report within 15 days.

The Narmada Hydroelectric Development Corporation (NHDC), which controls the Indira Sagar dam, has said that it is not responsible for the accident.

"We released the water as we do every day. We were never told by the district administration of Dewas that people would be taking a dip in the river that night," said an NHDC senior official.