Gujarat: Heavy Downpour Leaves 14 Dead, Over 30000 Evacuated So Far

Ahmedabad: At least 14 people have been killed in Gujarat as a result of a heavy downpour that has wreaked havoc in the southern districts and Kutch-Saurashtra regions of the state.

According to reports, more than 31000 people have been successfully evacuated so far.

State Disaster Management Minister Rajendra Trivedi has informed that the damage caused by incessant rainfall has led to the blockage of three national highways in the Kutch, Navsari and Dang districts.

He went on to say that fifty-one state highways and over 400 panchayat roads have also incurred damage.

Trivedi added that Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has instructed the administration to conduct a survey of the affected districts at the earliest so that people do not have to wait for long for cash and other reliefs to compensate for damages caused due to the rainfall.

As per the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC), parts of Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Dang and Amreli were the recipients of torrential rainfall ranging between 47 mm and 88 mm for a duration of four hours between 6 and 10 am on July 13.

A red alert has been issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and heavy showers during the next 24 hours have been predicted in the districts of Saurashtra and south Gujarat.

The weather department said that several parts of Kutch, Bharuch, Dang, Navsari and Tapi districts in south Gujarat received very heavy rainfall in the 24-hour period till 6 am on July 13.

Officials of the SEOC said that Rajkot, Gir Somnath, Amreli and Jamnagar happen to be the districts in the Saurashtra region that received heavy showers.

Trivedi said that as many as 31,035 people were shifted to safer places while 21,094 are still taking refuge in shelters provided by the respective district administrations and 9,941 have returned to their homes after the rain waters receded.

He said that a total of 575 people who were stranded due to flooding in low-lying areas of different districts have been rescued.

He stated that eighteen teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were deployed for the rescue work and added that two teams have been kept on standby.

Meanwhile, the Gujarat CM carried out an aerial inspection of flood-ravaged areas and also visited the affected regions in Chhota Udepur, Navsari and Narmada districts.

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