Ahmedabad: Red alert in some districts, schools shut in Junagadh

Meanwhile, three minors were among the four persons who died in rain-related incidents in south Gujarat’s Valsad district since Saturday, officials said on Monday. While the three minors drowned in a pit filled with rainwater in Vapi taluka on Saturday, an autorickshaw driver died in Surat after a tree fell on his vehicle amid heavy rainfall on Sunday.

Also, extremely heavy rain brought life to a standstill, flooded many areas and caused worries about flooding at Junagadh’s Ghed, prompting the state government to deploy an National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team, though the district administration said on Monday that the situation was under control.

Schools in the district have been ordered shut on Tuesday, as extremely heavy rain is forecast to continue for the third consecutive day. According to the district disaster management control room of Junagadh, Visavadar taluka received 465 mm of rain in the 36 hours ending at 6 pm on Monday. Adjoining Mendarda and Manavadar talukas were lashed by 463 mm and 428 mm of rain, respectively.

“The extremely heavy rain started around midnight and continued throughout Monday. It is still raining heavily… there are apprehensions that Ghed will be flooded after a few hours,” Junagadh collector Anil Ranavasiya told The Indian Express at 8 pm. Four of the 17 major dams in the district were overflowing on Monday evening, he added.

NDRF personnel assist residents to cross a flooded causeway in Rajkot’s Upleta taluka.

There was waterlogging in some parts of Junagadh, the city that witnessed a flash flood on July 22, last year, killing at least two persons. “However, this year, with the help of the state government and NGO Savji Dholakia Foundation, the carrying capacity of Kalva stream was augmented. Also, Junagadh Municipal Corporation has cleaned all 2,500 manholes in the city. Therefore, there are no complaints of any major flooding in the city so far,” Ranavasiya said.

The collector added that after the flash floods, a rain gauge has been installed at an office of the forest department on Mount Girnar, helping the administration to take precautionary measures. “Today, there was a red alert in view of the forecast of extremely heavy rainfall and an orange alert has been issued for Tuesday. Therefore, as a precautionary measure, we have ordered that all schools be closed on Tuesday,” Ranavasiya said.

“We have one team of SDRF (State Disaster Response Force) and the state government has dispatched one team of NDRF from Gandhinagar. As many as 34 roads have been closed due to overtopping of water, isolating 27 villages. However, telecommunication lines are still operational and the overall situation is under control as of now,” he added.

Meanwhile, the three minors, including twins, who died in rain-related incidents in Valsad district belonged to Chharwada village in Vapi. The police said the minors were playing in a puddle near their residential complex on Saturday afternoon when they accidentally jumped in a pit and drowned. Their bodies were recovered in the evening. The deceased have been identified as Arushi Solanki (9), and twins Harsh and Riddhi Tiwari (7).

When contacted, Dunagara police Inspector S P Gohil said: “The cause of death is due to drowning, as per the postmortem report. The pit, around nine-feet deep, is located on private land. Due to heavy rainfall, water accumulated in the pit… the children were unaware of its depth… We have lodged a case of accidental death. Necessary action will be taken against those responsible for negligence.”

The fourth deceased, an autorickshaw driver from Surat’s Limbayat, died while he was reportedly waiting for a passenger in Varachha on Sunday. The tree under which Hanif Shaikh (45) had parked his autorickshaw fell amid heavy rainfall and he died on the spot. The Varachha Police has registered an accidental death case in the matter.

According to the IMD, on July 2, parts of south Gujarat and Saurashtra may receive very heavy rain at isolated places, while heavy rain would lash several parts of north Gujarat, central Gujarat and Saurashtra region. On July 3, very heavy rain would occur in Surat, Navsari, Valsad and in Daman and Dadra Nagar Haveli.

Gujarat is experiencing a wet spell due to two cyclonic circulation over north as well as the south of the state, it added. As per data released by the State Emergency Operations Centre, 46 talukas received over 40 mm of rainfall in a 12-hour period ending at 6 pm on Monday.

Kalyanpur taluka of Devbhumi Dwarka district received 174 mm of rainfall during this period, which was the highest during the day, the SEOC said. It was followed by Manavadar in Junagadh (164 mm), Khambhalia of Devbhumi Dwarka (156 mm), Keshod of Junagadh (155 mm), Vanthali of Junagadh (154 mm), Mendarda of Junagadh (135 mm), Junagadh city (130 mm), Dhoraji of Rajkot (127 mm), Visavadar of Junagadh (117 mm), Kodinar of Gir Somnath (109 mm) and Bardoli of Surat district (105 mm).