Death toll reaches 69, over 27,000 evacuated so far amid Gujarat rains

|HT|

Rains continued to wreak havoc in various parts of Gujarat with the death toll rising to 69 after six more people died in rain related incidents in the past 24 hours, state government officials said. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Tuesday visited flood-hit Bodeli area in Chhota Udepur district of central Gujarat. He also conducted an aerial survey of various rain affected areas of the state. He visited Rajpipla in Narmada district where he was apprised of the successful rescue operation of 25 people with the help of NDRF and SDRF teams and safe evacuation of about 8,975 people in the district.

He also visited the families of the deceased Sanjaybhai Machhi and Dikshita Machhi who lost their lives after being stranded in flood hit area. A total of 27,896 people were evacuated from flood-affected areas and 18,225 of them remained in shelters while the others have returned home, according to a state government release. Water levels receded in Ahmedabad that was caught in rain fury on Monday as the city returned to normalcy.

A large shopping mall in the city remained shut after the water levels flooded its basement area meant for parking vehicles, damaging some of the ramps, said sources.

While heavy rains continue to lash districts in south Gujarat in the last few days, parts of Kutch and Rajkot in the Saurashtra region also witnessed heavy showers since Monday night. Schools and colleges remained shut in Rajkot and other areas too.

Rajkot city received 196 mm showers within a few hours on Tuesday. Several residential areas were inundated and flooded roads posed problems for commuters.

Rajkot taluka in the district received 115 mm rainfall in just six hours from 6am on Tuesday, the SEOC said. Dediapada in Narmada district received 534 mm rainfall in the 24-hour period till 6 am on Tuesday, while Tilakwada and Sagbara talukas recorded 508 mm and 422 mm rainfall, respectively. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a ‘red alert’ for heavy to very heavy rains in Valsad, Navsari, Surat, Tapi, Dang, Narmada, Chhota Udepur districts, as well as Kutch, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka and Morbi in the Saurashtra region till Wednesday morning.

In all, 20 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 11 teams of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed in various parts of the state, said Ashish Bhatia, DGP, Gujarat.

“In Narmada district, about 8,000 people have been shifted to safer locations while an equal number of people have been relocated in Chhota Udepur district in wake of the flood-like situation,” Bhatia told media-person on Tuesday.

Due to the widespread rains, 388 roads, including state highways and panchayat roads, were closed. Efforts are underway to re-open them. The movement of four passenger trains and an express train was affected after tracks between Chandod and Ekta Nagar sections were washed away. A total of 13 reservoirs are on high alert, 8 reservoirs with 80 to 90 per cent water storage are on alert and a normal warning has been issued for 7 reservoirs with 70 to 80 per cent full capacity.

Due to rainfall in the last four days, as many as 207 dams in the state have reached a water level of 40.24% of their average capacity, according to state government officials. “The Sardar Sarovar reservoir saw its water storage rise to 1,51,586 million cubic feet (MCF) of water that represents 45.37 % of the total capacity. As many as 2,24,287 MCF of water has been stored in as many as 206 other reservoirs in the state,” according to the officials. As heavy downpour continued in Navsari district, the Purna and Ambika rivers overflowed and caused flooding in some of the low lying areas.

A total of 9,500 people have so far been evacuated from the affected areas in Navsari district, an official said. In Navsari city, fire department personnel rescued around 20 people, including a five days old child, from a residential society affected by flooding, he said.

Besides, 21 people stranded on the Karjan river bank near Rajpipla in Narmada district after a sudden water surge were rescued on Monday night in a joint operation by the NDRF and the SDRF.

Umarpada in Surat received 427 mm rainfall, while Kaprada in Valsad received 401 mm rainfall during the same 24-hour period, the SEOC said.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)