1 dead in flash flood as heavy rain batters Gujarat; prohibitory orders issued in Junagadh

Junagadh District Collector Anilkumar Ranavasiya issued prohibitory orders early in the morning as a massive operation was launched to clean sludge and debris from city roads as the rain abated and floodwaters began to recede. Hundreds were evacuated from villages downstream of Junagadh as a precautionary measure. People were asked to remain indoors and prohibited from entering tourist spots and public places.

Bhavnagar taluka recorded the highest rainfall of 117 mm between 6 am and 10 am Sunday. Kotda Sangani and Lodhika in Rajkot also received heavy rainfall of 73 mm and 65 mm, respectively within these four hours, while Lalpur in Jamnagar received 61 mm of rain and Surat city recorded 59 mm.

At 10 am on Sunday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an ‘orange’ alert (moderate to heavy rain with thundershowers of more than 15 mm per hour) till 1 pm for districts of Anand, Vadodara, Chhota Udepur, Narmada, Bharuch, Surat, Dang, Tapi, Navsari, Valsad, Daman, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Junagadh, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Morbi, Devbhoomi Dwarka, Gir Somnath and Botad.

“As it is a Sunday, it is possible that people may venture out, especially in Bhavnath. But it is not yet safe to venture out as there is a rain forecast. Therefore, we issued prohibitory orders,” said Ranavasiya, who is also the district magistrate, adding that the orders will remain in force till Sunday midnight.

“The rains stopped at around 5 pm on Saturday and floodwaters receded in Junagadh city a few hours later. Around 200 people who had to be rescued from floodwaters and around 750 others who were evacuated from low-lying areas have been allowed to return,” district collector Ranavasiya told The Indian Express, adding, “A few people in the Bhavnath Taleti area continue to be at a temporary relief centre set up by the Jamnagar Municipal Corporation (JMC) and they are being provided food and water.”

The collector said electricity was restored in almost all parts of Junagadh city. “As household belongings of people in many areas have either been lost or damaged by floodwaters, we are providing food packets to such affected people,” he added.

At least 12 roads were closed to traffic due to flooding in the district and 320 people were evacuated from vulnerable areas in 12 villages in Junagadh rural.

The collector said cleaning of debris and sludge from city roads is almost over. “We launched the cleanliness drive late last night and all major roads have been cleared. They are motorable now. The floodwaters of Kalvo river have also receded. Teams are dewatering areas where there is still some waterlogging,” said Ranavasiya.

The collector appealed to volunteers of local NGOs to join the cleanliness and relief efforts by contacting the district flood control room at No.0285 2633446/47/48.

Meanwhile, the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) made desperate efforts to recover around 3,000 used tyres and dozens of oil barrels which were washed away in floodwaters. “Floodwaters of Kalvo river breached the perimeter wall of our divisional workshop at four locations and entered our workshop. Consequently, around 3,000 of the 6,000 used tyres in our workshop were washed away, besides around 40 oil barrels and other scrap,” said Rameshchandra Shrimali, GSRTC divisional controller, Junagadh.

GSRTC launched an overnight operation to recover the material. “We called teams from Veraval to recover tyres and other material. Local teams of the disaster management unit are also helping us. So far, we have recovered around 1,000 tyres,” Shrimali added.

According to the rainfall data maintained by the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC), Navsari and Junagadh districts recorded an average of 179 mm and 121 mm of rain, respectively in the 24 hours till 6 am on Sunday.

Other talukas to have received heavy rainfall in the state are Umrala (196 mm) in Bhavnagar, Khergam (184 mm), Mendarda (177 mm) in Junagadh, Khambhalia (174 mm) in Devbhoomi Dwarka, Vallabhipur (166 mm) in Bhavnagar, Gandevi (161 mm) in Navsari, Visavadar (153 mm) in Junagadh, Vagra (144 mm) in Bharuch, Botad (128 mm), Ahmedabad city (125 mm), Keshod (124 mm) in Junagadh, Mahuva (120 mm) in Bhavnagar, Sanand (113 mm) in Ahmedabad, Vanthali (108 mm) in Junagadh, Chikhli (106 mm) in Navsari, Dahegam (103 mm) in Gandhinagar and Pardi (102 mm) in Valsad.

On Saturday, widespread rainfall was recorded in 246 of the state’s 251 talukas, which recorded an average of 68 per cent of the season’s rainfall. While Junagadh received 12 per cent of its average seasonal rainfall, Saurashtra region recorded nearly 8 per cent in the last 24 hours. With this, Saurashtra’s total went up to 100 per cent from 92 per cent in a single day. As much as 354 mm of rainfall has been recorded in the state in July against 243 mm received in June.