A number of cities in Gujarat faced flood-like situations following heavy showers in the past few days. The situation was quite bad in Vadodara where although the rain did take a pause, low-lying areas were flooded after the Vishwamitri River breached its banks. Indian women’s cricket team spinner Radha Yadav took to social media to share that she was in a ‘very bad situation’ due to the flooding but was rescued by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). In her Instagram story, she posted a video showing the NDRF officials rescuing some people by the help of a boat while there was a lot of water on the roads. “We are Stuck in a Very bad situation. Thank you so much #NDRF for rescuing us,” Radha wrote on the social media platform along with the video.
Rain-related incidents claimed 19 more lives in Gujarat, taking the toll to 26 in three days, while around 17,800 people were evacuated from flood-affected areas as heavy showers lashed parts of the state for the fourth consecutive day on Wednesday, officials said.
The deceased include seven persons who went missing after the tractor trolley they were travelling in was swept away while crossing an overflowing causeway near Dhavana village under Halvad taluka of Morbi district on Sunday, a police official said, adding their bodies have been recovered.
Even as rains took a pause in Vadodara, it grappled with flooding in a large swathe of low-lying areas after the Vishwamitri river, flowing through the city, breached its banks and entered residential localities, inundating buildings, roads and vehicles.
Amid flood-like situation prevailing in several parts of Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called up Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel to take stock of the situation, and assured the Centre’s support to the state in tackling the natural disaster.
On Wednesday, districts in the Saurashtra region such as Devbhumi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Rajkot and Porbandar received between 50mm and 200 mm rains in 12-hour period ended 6 pm. Bhanvad taluka of Devbhumi Dwarka district received 185 mm rainfall during this period, the highest in the state.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast of extremely heavy rains in isolated parts of districts in Saurashtra on Thursday.
People stranded in their houses and rooftops in Vadodara city were rescued and relocated to safer places by teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), its state counterpart SDRF and three columns of the Army deployed for the purpose, officials said.
(With PTI inputs)
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