Over 1 lakh shifted in Gujarat

Heavy rain continues in Rajasthan; three more deaths in West Bengal

As many as 1,12,878 people have been vacated from flood-hit areas of Gujarat, of which 60,000 are from the districts of Banaskantha and Patan.

“The total number of rescued was at 17,030, with the human casualty in Banaskantha at 58,” said Pankaj Kumar, principal secretary (revenue). Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, who was on a visit to the flood-affected areas in North Gujarat, said that about 4.5 lakh people in 18 districts and 800 villages of the state were affected due to floods.

"As many as 60,446 people took shelter in 90 relief camps and 15.50 lakh food packets have been distributed in these camps,” the minister said. With rain taking a breather in some parts of the state, the focus now has shifted to relief operations, cleaning and health-related functions. “A total of 813 health teams surveyed around 20 lakh people in the affected areas. 19,082 people have been given on the spot treatment,” Singh said.

Till Saturday evening, 610 roads remained closed for vehicular traffic, including five national highways and 20 state highways. The state transport buses on about 1635 routes have also been hit, with 29 trains cancelled as tracks were submerged.

Kumar said that Gujarat has till date received 637.84 mm of rain this monsoon, which is 78.84% of the annual rainfall.

As predicted by the Met department, parts of South Gujarat and North Gujarat received heavy rain in the last 24 hours, with Kaprada in Valsad district of South Gujarat receiving 222 mm of rain and Suigam in Banaskantha district of North Gujarat receiving 115 mm.

In Assam, flood waters were receding in all but sixdistricts. More than 2000 people are still in various relief camps.

Clear skies prevailed in the national capital with the maximum temperature settling at 35.1 degrees Celsius, a notch above the season’s average.

In Rajasthan, heavy rain and water released from the Jawai Dam have flooded parts of Jalore and neighbouring areas, officials said. More than 70,000 cusecs of water was released from the dam - the largest in western Rajasthan - on Friday evening.

“Of the total 13 gates, 11 were opened on Friday night to discharge water. Seven gates were closed in the morning and four are still open,” said Vinod Kumar Malhotra, sub-divisional magistrate of Sumerpur town in Pali district.

The flood situation improved marginally in West Bengal on Saturday even as three more people died in the past 24 hours, taking the toll to 31, an official said. Over 23 lakh people have been hit in over 165 villages inundated by heavy rain and the water released by the Damodar Valley Corporation, he said.