As many as 388 roads, including state and panchayat highways and other roads, were closed throughout the state on Sunday as a result of the heavy rain, and more than 3,000 people were evacuated by emergency response teams from various districts.
As per the information department of the Gujarat government, five inches of rain was recorded in six districts of Chhota Udepur, Dang, Narmada, Valsad, Navsari and Panchmahal on Sunday between 8 am and 6 pm.
“A total of 3,250 persons, including 400 from Chhota Udepur, 550 from Navsari and 470 from Valsad, were evacuated. The CM visited the state emergency operation centre (SEOC) in Gandhinagar to take stock of the situation, especially in six districts where maximum rainfall was recorded. The CM has asked local administration in these six districts to evacuate those living in low-lying areas or in kutcha houses and provide them food and medical facilities,” read a statement from the Information Department of Gujarat government on Sunday night.
The sixth battalion of the NDRF released a statement saying that their teams were deployed in 12 districts. “A total of 13 teams have been deployed in Navsari, Gir Somnath, Surat, Rajkot, Banaskantha, Valsad, Bhavnagar, Kutch, Jamnagar, Amreli, Dwarka and Junagadh. Two more teams have been deployed in Udaipur and Kota in Rajasthan as well. One team is conducting Flood Water Rescue (FWR) operations in Navsari and rest are delpoyed on high alert, Very heavy rainfall has been experienced at few places in Chhota Udepur, Panchmahal, Dang, Tapi, Narmada, Surat and Navsari,” read the statement from NDRF.
“In the wake of heavy rainfall predicted for the next two days in Gujarat, the chief minister has asked collectors of all six districts to remain alert… The CM has also directed the roads and building department as well as local administrations to remove obstacles on all state highways and roads affected by the rainfall and repair them at the earliest,” read the statement from Information Department.
Heavy water-logging was reported in Chhota Udepur and a railway track connecting the district to Vadodara city was washed away on Sunday following incessant overnight rainfall that led to Bodeli taluka receiving 16 inches of rain.
Water-logging was reported in Bodeli, Pavi Jetpur and Kawant in Chhota Udepur, while Jambughoda in Panchmahal district and Sagbara and Dediapada in Narmada district recorded heavy rainfall.
The railway track connecting Pavi Jetpur to Pratapnagar station in Vadodara city was washed away near Bodeli, causing the cancellation of passenger trains. The cancellations left about 50 passengers stranded at Pavi Jetpur station.
Khemraj Meena, PRO, Vadodara Division of Western Railway, said, “We arranged meals for passengers stranded at Pavi Jetpur station. Restoration work of the track was undertaken immediately and the work is going on. We cannot determine how much time it will take to resume the train services.”
In Naswadi taluka of Chhota Udepur, sub-inspector of Naswadi police station led the rescue operations of people stuck in Chhatiaamli village. Severe flooding was reported in Zab village of Pavi Jetpur taluka in its river mangrove area, cutting off the village into two parts after the Rajvasna dam in the district began overflowing.
In Bodeli taluka, some travellers to the Zand Hanuman temple, located in Jambughoda in Panchmahal district, were reportedly stranded after flooding in the area where several bridges were submerged. Nearly 16 roads — 12 in Naswadi taluka — were closed due to heavy water-logging or due to overflowing rivers.
In Bodeli, where 16 inches of rain was recorded, fire officials rescued stranded residents from Ramnagar Society, Diwan Faliya and Rajnagar.
Several villages of Dediapada and Sagbara talukas of Narmada district, located on the banks of Karjan river, have been put on high alert after 20,000 cusecs water was released from Karjan dam.
Meanwhile, Ahmedabad city experienced significant rainfall late on Sunday night. Various areas of the city have reported water logging. According to the official rainfall data, Ahmedabad city received 114 mm of rain on Sunday between the hours of 6 and 10.