There has been torrential rain in Gujarat for the last two days, due to which normal life has been disrupted. Flood-like conditions prevail in many districts of the state. The Meteorological Department has issued a red alert for heavy rain in 7 districts of Gujarat, an orange alert in 22 districts and a yellow alert in 4 districts on August 27. Due to the warning of heavy rain in Gujarat, the Education Department has declared a holiday in all primary schools tomorrow, August 27.
Rajkot submerged in water
Heavy rains are continuing in Rajkot for the second consecutive day. Rajkot has received 10 inches of rain in 24 hours. Waterlogging occurred in many areas, Rajkot’s Kalavad Road, 150 feet ring road, Raiya Road, Popatpara underpass and many other areas were flooded, due to which the drivers had to face difficulties. However, this rain was very much needed by the farmers because due to lack of rain, the crops of the farmers were getting ruined, which has now got a new life, but this rain has brought trouble in urban areas because due to the negligence of the Municipal Corporation, many areas have been waterlogged. Rajkot’s Janmashtami fair has also flopped due to heavy rains and the fair ground has also been filled with water.
Rain wreaks havoc in Surat
Tapi river water reached Kadarsa Naal area of Surat through the gutter, due to which people living in this area are facing a lot of problems. Due to water logging in front of people’s houses and shops, the vehicles parked there have also drowned in the water. Due to 2.50 lakh cusecs of water being released from Ukai dam, the water level of Tapi river passing through the middle of Surat city has increased. Due to the increased water level, the Municipal Corporation closed the flood gates, as a result the gutter water is not going into the river and the river water has filled the low-lying areas through the gutter.
Sardar Sarovar dam is overflowing
Due to the continuous heavy rains in Gujarat, the water level of Sardar Sarovar Dam has risen to 135.26 meters, due to which 15 gates of the dam were opened and 3,67,853 cusecs of water was released into the Narmada river. The administration has alerted Bharuch, Vadodara and about 42 villages of Narmada situated on both the banks of the Narmada river. Apart from this, NDRF, SDRF teams have been deployed in all the coastal areas.
Chief Minister held a review meeting
In view of the situation of heavy rains in Gujarat, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel held a high-level meeting in Gandhinagar. The Chief Minister held a video conference with the collectors, municipal commissioners and district officials of the rain-affected districts and obtained relevant information. He has urged to evacuate people especially those in low-lying areas and has instructed the collectors to exercise special caution to prevent any person from crossing or entering rivers, drains or roads when rainwater is flowing in large quantities and dangerously and, if necessary, people should be strictly stopped with the help of police.
The Chief Minister has directed the system operators and senior officials to work on a war footing to restore the situation even if the rain affects the power supply, roads or the supply of essential commodities. Out of the 7009 villages in the entire state where power supply was affected, the situation has been restored in 6977 villages and power supply has started. At the same time, 5961 out of 6090 electricity poles have been repaired. The Chief Minister has also directed to take protective measures for the prevention of epidemic immediately after the rain stops, to carry out a cleaning campaign by removing pesticide leakage, soil, sediment and to remove obstructions on the road and make the roads suitable for vehicular movement. At present, a total of 523 roads are closed in Surat, Navsari, Valsad, Tapi Dang and Chhotaudepur districts in the state.
Meteorological department officials have predicted widespread and heavy rains in the state for the next two to three days and have issued a red alert, in view of which the Chief Minister has directed the collectors of these districts to remain on alert. During the meeting, the Chief Minister discussed in detail with the collectors of the most affected districts including Navsari, Valsad, Dang, Panchmahal and Vadodara and Chhota Udaipur as well as the Municipal Commissioner of Vadodara on the water cover of rivers, traffic regulation and evacuation and did an in-depth review of the people of the low-lying areas of their districts. Apart from this, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has directed the concerned District In-charge Secretaries to immediately reach the district headquarters assigned to them to guide the local district system in case of heavy rains.
Rain wreaks havoc in Gujarat
In the last 24 hours, 244 tehsils in Gujarat have received rain and an average of 63 mm of rain has been recorded. 3 people have died due to rain in 24 hours. Since June 1, 17,827 people have been shifted to safer places and 1,653 people have been rescued in the state. 13 NDRF teams and 22 SDRF teams have been deployed in the affected districts, which are helping in rescue and relief operations.
There has been rain in 244 talukas of 33 districts in the entire state. The average rainfall of this season in the whole of Gujarat has been 88.88 percent. Out of 206 reservoirs in the state, 59 reservoirs are 100% full. 72 reservoirs are on high alert and 22 are on alert, 9 have flood warning and 7 rivers are in spate. Apart from this, Sardar Sarovar Dam has 88.74% of its total storage capacity i.e. 2,96,459 MCM water.
Accident happened in Sabarkantha
Due to heavy rains, a car got stuck in the Hathmati river in Himmatnagar in Sabarkantha. This accident happened on the Katwad Causeway. The fire brigade rescued two youths in the car. A huge crowd of people gathered at the spot.
Waterlogging in Anand
In Gujarat’s Anand district, an average of five and a half inches of rain fell in six hours, due to which low lying areas of the district including Anand city were waterlogged and various roads were closed due to the falling of trees and electric poles due to the rain. Due to overflowing of Loteshwar pond in Anand, water filled on Vyayamshaala road, due to overflowing of Rajod pond, water filled on the road. On the other hand, the road connecting the village on Chikhodara road was filled with one and a half to two feet of water and Radhakrishna Pratima Ganj road was also flooded. Bhalej Overbridge side road is submerged, while people are facing problems due to rain water entering the houses in Naya Vatan Society. Many roads are closed due to rain in Anand. Also, the District Magistrate has instructed all the employees not to leave the headquarters in case of disaster.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)