19 killed as rains pound Gujarat

Heavy rain in Gujarat has claimed 19 lives since last week, even as the state government has relocated over 950 people to safer places.

“A total of 19 deaths have been recorded. Along with this we have reports of 84 cattle being perished in rain. Around 978 people from across the state, primarily South Gujarat, have been evacuated to safety,” Manoj Kothari, Gujarat Relief Commissioner, told reporters.

“Many villages also do not have electricity but we are seeking to restore power supply,” he said.

The state has already kept four teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) each in South Gujarat and Vadodara.

Three NDRF teams have been deployed in Gandhinagar and one team each in Amreli, Jamnagar, Palanpur and Mahisagar.

Among those evacuated, 641 people were rescued from Navsari district, one of the most affected in the state.

As many as 10 villages in Navsari are on alert, with a dozen others in danger of being cut off from the outside world.

Of the 251 taluks in the state, 118 have received heavy rain in last 24 hours, with over 30 taluks receiving over two inches of rain.

For the second consecutive day, the South Gujarat region was pounded by rain, with Waghai in Dangs district receiving over 121 mm of rainfall, followed by Surat city with 107 mm and Bharuch and Dolvan in Tapi district with around 95 mm of rainfall.

Two rivers in South Gujarat Ambika in Navsari district and Poorna in Dangs district are overflowing due to heavy inflow of water and 206 roads, including one national highway and four state highways were shut down for vehicular traffic.

In Surat, water entered a police station in Sachin GIDC estate, forcing the policemen to vacate the station.

Schools and other educational establishments were asked to remain shut for the day, as waterlogging was witnessed in many parts of the state.

According to the figures by the the state emergency operation center, Kodinar in Gir Somnath district of Saurashtra region received 115 mm of rainfall and Talaja in Bhavnagar district received about 100 mm of rainfall till 6.00 pm on Thursday.

“Going forward, the South Gujarat, East-Central districts of the state and coastal Saurashtra districts would receive heavy to very heavy rain, even as other part of the state could witness moderate to heavy rain in the coming four days,” Jayanta Sarkar, director, MeT Department, said.