Guwahati: As many as 14 people have perished as heavy showers continued to batter in Gujarat’s southern districts and Kutch-Saurashtra regions.
Around 31000 have been evacuated so far, according to reports.
Three national highways in Kutch, Navsari and Dang districts were blocked due to damage caused by rains. Fifty-one state highways and over 400 panchayat roads have also been damaged, said by state disaster management minister “Trivedi”
Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has directed the administration to carry out a survey of the affected districts as soon as possible, so that people do not have to wait for long for cash and other reliefs to compensate for damages caused due to the rainfall, he said.
In four hours between 6 and 10 am on Wednesday, according to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC), parts of Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Dang and Amreli received downpour between 47 mm and 88 mm.
Meanwhile, in the parts of Saurashtra and south Gujarat, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a ‘red alert’, predicting heavy rains during the next 24 hours in the districts.
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.
Rajkot, Gir Somnath, Amreli and Jamnagar were among districts in Saurashtra region that received heavy downpour, officials of the SEOC said.
Trivedi said people were shifted to safer places, with 21,094 still living in shelters provided by the respective district administrations and 9,941 returning to their homes after the rain waters receded.
Due to low-lying areas of different districts 575 people were rescued, he said.
Eighteen teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were deployed for the rescue work and two kept on standby.
CM Patel had conducted an aerial inspection of flood-hit areas like Chhota Udepur, Navsari and Narmada district and later visited the affected regions.
The water levels of the states have risen due to heavy rains of various reservoirs in the state, with 30 of them being filled up to 70 per cent or more out of their total storage capacity.
Sardar Sarovar Dam the state’s largest dam is also filled up to 48 per cent of its total capacity, the minister said.