29 persons rescued in last 24 hours from Kutch and Banaskantha as rain lashes Gujarat

Providing information about the rescue operation, Banaskantha District Collector Mihir Patel said: “At least 25 persons were trapped in two houses at Bhatbar in Banaskantha district’s Vav taluka. They were successfully rescued by the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team. Additionally, an Indian Air Force helicopter has been kept on standby at Jodhpur Air Force station in case any emergency arises”.

1678 persons rescued in last 3 days in Banaskantha

Mihir Patel said: “Teams from the local administration, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the SDRF have successfully rescued and evacuated 1,678 persons in the last three days”.

“At least 86 teams of Uttar Gujarat Vij Company Limited (UGVCL) are working to restore electricity in Bhabhar, Suigam, Vav and Tharad talukas. Out of the 297 villages, power supply has been restored in 133 villages,” Patel added.

In the last 24 hours ending Tuesday 5 pm, border talukas of Lakhpat, Rapar, Bhachau and Nakhatrana in Kutch district received 159 mm, 121 mm, 105 mm and 105 mm of rainfall, respectively while Bhabhar in Banaskantha district received 134 mm rainfall.

Following heavy rain, the Gujarat government has appointed five additional collector level officers in the border talukas to coordinate and supervise the entire relief and rescue operation, said sources.

19 committees formed

The Banaskantha Collector meanwhile said that 19 district-level committees have been formed for the entire relief and rescue operation of the state. These committees will be responsible for relief and rescue, sanitation, agriculture, animal husbandry, electricity and road repair. Also, 13 district-level officers of the level of Deputy Collector have been appointed as nodal officers.

Eight-hour-long rescue

Four farmers who were trapped in a field near Kanmer village in Kutch district’s Rapar taluka after the breakdown in Mewasa Dam were rescued on Tuesday afternoon by the SDRF, said sources.

Providing information, Kanmer village Sarpanch Ramsinh Bhati said: “As Mewasa Dam water was overflowing in the low-lying areas, the administration had issued instructions to evacuate people from several areas, including Raimalvandh”. “Due to erratic mobile networks in the area, the farmers in Raimalvandh were not aware of the alert and went to work in their fields on Monday, located around 7 km from their village. As the water continued to flow from all sides, they got trapped in a small hut,” Kanmer Panchayat Secretary Mukesh Mistri told The Indian Express.

As soon as the villagers informed the administration about this incident, the SDRF team immediately reached the spot. But since the water flow was high and the four farmers found a refuge in a hut in their farm, it was decided to carry out the operation after the water level receded, said sources.

At 5 am on Tuesday, the rescue operation was carried out. By 12 noon, the SDRF personnel succeeded in rescuing Radhu Mallu (65), Manubhai Balu (50), Govabhai Balu (45), Kamabhai Mansinh (48) after eight hours of struggle.

“The rescue team comprising 25 members from SDRF and myself walked on foot covering several kilometers through the swampy area as no vehicle could cross the terrain. We had to carry Radhu Mallu, the eldest among them, on our shoulders,” Mukesh Mistri added.

Kutch continued to receive rainfall on Tuesday as well as Nakhatrana recorded 30 mm rainfall between 6 to 8 am followed by Lakhpat 6 mm.

In a related development, Gujarat Legislative Assembly Speaker Shankar Chaudhary reached affected areas in Banaskantha on Monday evening after the Legislative Assembly proceedings were over.

Chaudhary reached out to the affected citizens in his constituency, Tharad. He also held a meeting with the district administration officials, including Banskantha District Collector Mihir Patel, District Development Officer MJ Dave, District Superintendent of Police Prashant Sumbe and others to review the situation.

The Speaker visited the flood-affected areas of Tharad town by riding a tractor and inspected the arrangements made for the affected citizens.

So far, about 1.50 lakh food packets have been prepared and distributed with the cooperation of the district administration and Banas Dairy. These packets have been delivered to the citizens trapped in houses and high places due to waterlogging. In addition, an immediate kitchen has been started at the milk cold center to provide food to about 3000 flood-affected citizens in Tharad and the surrounding areas and food distribution has also been started.

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