3 dead, over 6000 evacuated to safety as rains pound Gujarat

Mangalore Today News Network

Ahmedabad, Jul 22 2017 : Three persons lost their lives, 214 were rescued and over 6000 people were shifted to safety, as heavy rains continued to pound Gujarat.

 

The rains were particularly heavy in Surendranagar, Morbi and Rajkot districts of Saurashtra region. “Morbi received as much as 20 plus inches of rain, which is almost equal to rains Morbi had seen in the disaster of past (1979) which had led to large-scale destruction. However, this time we were cautious and that has saved the day,” Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani said.

The chief minister, who was in the disaster control room in Gandhinagar, said that other than Morbi, Chotila in Surendranagar district received as much as 14 inches of rain in last 24 hours, causing severe inconvenience.

By evening, the local administration had issued a ‘Red alert’ for Morbi and put NDRF team on stand by. The leaves of all government officials were canceled and local police were deployed on National Highway.

“As many as 10 state highways and 56 arterial roads in the region have been damaged and efforts are on to open the roads. No National Highways have been affected,” Pankaj Kumar, Secretary, Revenue, Gujarat, said.

“So far, 214 persons have been rescued, including 42 by NDRF, 65 by State Disaster Rescue Force, three by Indian Air Force and others by local police and fire brigade,” Kumar added.

In nearby Surendranagar district, 20 persons were caught in the waters at Moodi village, with NDRF and local administration successfully rescuing four persons till evening.

Several trains in Saurashtra region too were affected as tracks in Liliya of Amreli and Maliya were reported to be under water.

Kumar said that so far Gujarat has received 51% of its seasonal rains at about 415 mm. The Kutch region has received 71.67%, Saurashtra about 66%, North Gujarat 48.08%, South Gujarat about 47.72% and East Central Gujarat about 35.72 % of seasonal rains till date. Among all the districts, Valsad has received a maximum of 1358 mm of rains this season.

This has led to some dams overflowing. The state government has pressed its district administration into rescue work, distributing food packets and other essential items in the affected areas.

Of the 203 reservoirs in the state, 28 have been put on high alert, nine dams on alert and warnings have been issued for 10 otherdams.

The major cities of Vadodara and Ahmedabad too witnessed heavy rains in last two days. While Vadodara received up to 9 inches of rain on Friday evening, Ahmedabad recorded up to 4 inches of rains. The life in these cities was thrown out of gear with severe water logging, traffic jams and potholes in the roads becoming a norm.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a forecast of thundershowers in most districts of Gujarat region including Saurashtra, Kutch and in Diu, Daman, Dadra Nagar Haveli till the morning of July 27.


courtesy:DHNS