Flood-like situation in Gujarat as heavy rain batters Saurashtra, many evacuated

with light to moderate rain across the state, is expected from July 20 to 22.

Three persons were killed and around 300 had to be evacuated as extremely heavy rain continued to pound parts of Saurashtra for the second day on Wednesday. Two deaths in rain-related incidents were reported from Surendranagar district while one similar death was reported from Rajkot district.

Varjang Raiya (13), an agricultural labourer, was killed after being struck by a lightning bolt in Dhamrasala village in Surendranagar’s Sayla taluka late Tuesday. In a similar incident, Chetan Chauhan (33), a farmer of Navagam village in Sayla taluka was killed after being hit by lightning late Tuesday. “The two victims were working on farm when they were hit by lightning bolts in two separate incidents,” P I Gadhvi, mamlatdar (disaster management) of Surendranagar, said on Wednesday.

One woman, Payal Berani (23), was killed in a lightning strike at Kaduka village of Rajkot’s Jasdan taluka late Tuesday.

In Surat district, a 9-year-old boy died after being struck by lightning at Palsana taluka during heavy rain on Tuesday evening. His cousin, a 8-year-old girl, sustained burns as lighting struck while they were playing on the terrace of their apartment at Nakshatra residential society in Jolva village. The deceased has been identified as Pukhraj Suthar.

Meanwhile, due to the heavy rain, at least four persons were reported missing. They included three factory workers from Jetpur in Rajkot district and a two-and-a-half-year old boy from Veraval town in Gir Somnath district.

Four factory workers were swept away in Bhadar river while they were fishing. While one of them managed to swim to safety, three others were reported missing. Meanwhile, Ahil Samla, a toddler, was reported missing after his home was flooded.

Most of Veraval town was flooded following heavy rain, which began on Tuesday afternoon and continued till late Wednesday. The NDRF rescued 270 people trapped in floodwaters while the Gir Somnath police rescued 30 near Somnath bypass, SP Manoharsinh Jadeja said.

At Talala in Gir Somnath, crocodiles were spotted on the flooded streets. As Hiran river flooded following extremely heavy rainfall in its catchment area in Gir forest, some marsh crocodiles entered Talala. People alerted forest officers of Gir (West) wildlife circle about crocodiles slithering on Talala-Sasan road and near the Centre of Excellence for Mango. The crocodiles were then moved away from the town.

Life came to a standstill in Junagadh’s Mangrol taluka where several people were stranded after water entered houses in many villages and flooded approach roads making the areas inaccessible, officials said. Junagadh was the worst affected district due to heavy rain on Wednesday, with Mangrol taluka receiving 290 mm of rainfall in eight hours since 6 am, followed by 191 mm recorded in Malia Hatina taluka, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said. Junagadh’s Keshod and Manavadar recorded 111 and 110 mm of rainfall, respectively, during this period, it added.

Teams of NDRF, SDRF and local police worked to rescue people in the affected parts of the district and shift them to safer areas.

An NDRF team rescued over 100 people from flooded villages in Veraval taluka of Gir Somnath. Approach roads to at least 14 villages in Junagadh district were flooded, the district administration said. Many villages in Sutrapada taluka of Gir Somnath district turned into islands and water entered several houses.

Sutrapada, Veraval and Talaja talukas of the district received 541, 481 and 299 mm of rainfall, respectively, in 24 hours till 6 am on Wednesday, said the SEOC.

The IMD issued a warning for Thursday against heavy to very heavy rain in districts of Valsad, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Bhavnagar, Rajkot and Porbandar. Also, heavy to very heavy rain is forecast for districts of Ahmedabad, Kheda, Anand, Bharuch, Surat, Tapi, Dangs, Navsari, Amreli, Devbhoomi Dwarka and Gir Somnath.

“Heavy rain is very likely in the districts of Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Aravalli, Gandhinagar, Panchmahal, Dahod, Vadodara, Chhota Udepur, Narmada, Surendranagar, Morbi, Botad and Kutch,” the IMD alerted for Thursday.

On Friday, heavy to very heavy rain is expected in districts of Surat, Navsari, Valsad, Amreli, Bhavnagar and Gir Somnath. Heavy rain is also expected in the districts of Sabarkantha, Aravalli, Anand, Mahisagar, Vadodara, Bharuch, Dang, Porbandar and Junagadh.

“Heavy to very heavy rain with isolated extremely heavy falls is very likely in the districts of Aravalli and Sabarkantha. Heavy to very heavy rain is likely in the districts of Mehsana, Kheda and Mahisagar, Amreli and Bhavnagar while heavy rain is likely in Patan, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Anand, Panchmahal, Dahod, Vadodara, Chhota Udepur, Valsad, Surendranagar and Botad,” the IMD said for July 22.

On July 23, heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected in the districts of Banaskantha, Patan and Kutch along with Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Jamnagar, Porbandar and Dwarka. The next day, districts of south Gujarat, including Dang, Navsari and Valsad, along with Porbandar and Devbhoomi Dwarka, are expected to receive heavy rainfall.

WITH PTI INPUTS