Heavy Rains Lash Gujarat; Visavadar Taluka in Junagadh Gets 398 mm

AHMEDABAD:
Heavy rains lashed several parts of Gujarat in the last 24 hours, inundating low-lying areas in cities and villages and creating a flood-like situation, an official said on Saturday.

Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were deployed in Kutch, Jamnagar, Junagadh, and Navsari, which were some of the worst-affected districts, the official said. According to officials, areas in many districts in Saurashtra-Kutch and south Gujarat regions received extremely heavy rainfall, causing waterlogging in low-lying areas and leaving villages submerged.

Several areas in the Ahmedabad city too were waterlogged, which led to heavy traffic jams and inconvenienced commuters, they said. Gandhidham railway station in Kutch was inundated as the district received very heavy rain, while several villages and towns were flooded in Junagadh, Jamnagar, Kutch, Valsad, Navsari, Mehsana, and Surat, officials said.

As per the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC), Visavadar taluka in Junagadh district received extremely heavy rainfall of 398 mm in a 24-hour period ending at 6 am on Saturday. Jamnagar taluka of Jamnagar district (269 mm), Kaprada in Valsad (247 mm), Anjar in Kutch (239 mm), and Khergam in Navsari (222 mm) were some of the worst-hit areas, the SEOC stated.

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel held an emergency meeting with officials at the SEOC in Gandhinagar on Friday night and directed them to focus on rescue and relief works, including evacuating people living in low-lying areas. Patel spoke to collectors of Junagadh and Kutch districts, who briefed him about the rain situation, including waterlogging in villages in Visavadar taluka, and evacuation of people along with other relief measures, a government release stated.

The India Meteorological Department has predicted that the intensity of rainfall will reduce in the state on Saturday and the situation will begin to normalize by Sunday. The department, however, warned of heavy rains at isolated places in the districts of north and south Gujarat and Saurashtra till Sunday morning. The IMD also said light to moderate rainfall will be witnessed in several parts of the state till Wednesday morning.