Vadodara receives record rains, 4000 evacuated

More than 4000 people living in the low lying areas were evacuated from the flash flood in Vadodara city and eight affected talukas of the district on Thursday after heavy rainfall disrupted the normal life in the past 24 hours. Officials said more people were stuck in the flood and were being evacuated.

With the heavy rainfall since Wednesday, Vadodara city has been flooded. Apart from waterlogging, the Vishwamiti river has been overflowing from the danger mark of 20 feet. Officials said that on Wednesday night the water level that crossed 29 feet came down to 25 feet on Thursday evening. By the evening, the sky was clear but the weather forecast has warned more rains in the region.

The constant rains disrupted the air, train as well as road traffic, while school and colleges remained shut. Most of the areas in the city have been severely affected by the flood. There were reports of several crocodiles, said to have come out from the Vishwamitri river, that passed through the city.

In one of the video clips, a crocodile, about two to three feet long, is seen attacking a dog in the water in the flooded road in a residential area. The dog managed to escape. Officials said that at three crocodiles were caught from the residential areas.

Officials said that on Wednesday, Vadodara had recorded 554 mm rainfall in less than 12 hours which was a record. The local police, teams of state reserve police force and teams of NDRF have been roped for the rescue operation. Government officials said that chief minister Vijay Rupani has held a review meet in Gandhinagar with senior officials to tackle the situation.