Around 38 school students and 22 others, who were trapped inside a house that they took shelter in amid heavy rainfall, were rescued in Bhavnagar and Amreli districts, respectively, on Monday.
The students of Model High School were on the Ratol-Talgajarda road near Talgajarda village of Bhavnagar’s Mahuva taluka, when there was a sudden spike in the water level and a flood current in the Rupao river.
“The school bus driver, sensing the sudden rise in water level on the road, stopped the bus and helped the students take shelter in a house nearby. However, the water level continued to increase, which led to children getting trapped in the house,” Bhavnagar collector Manish Kumar Bansal told The Indian Express.
As soon as the taluka administration was informed about this incident, a fire team from Mahuva, the Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM), the Mamlatdar and the local police reached the spot and the rescue operation was carried out with the help of the villagers.
According to data shared by the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC), 195 of the 251 talukas received rainfall till 8 pm on Monday — Bhavnagar and Amreli being the worst-hit, with some talukas in these districts recording more than rainfall measuring 11 inch.
Keeping in view the forecast by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), as per which, several parts of the state will see heavy rainfall, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has issued directions to immediately evacuate people to safer locations and to be prepared to fight menaces of the monsoon season.
Besides, a team from the Jamnagar Air Force has been kept on standby, and a helicopter dispatched.
Sharing more details on the rescue operation, the state government, in a release, said that the fire team reached the house where the students were trapped around 50 metres away by a boat and then used a tractor to reach out to the children.
“The rescue operation was carried out safely as there was a dip in the water levels later. A human chain was formed and all the children were brought out safely. No child was injured or killed in the incident,” the state government added.
Further, 22 people, who were working at a site of the Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board (GWSSB) near Victor village in Rajula taluka of Amreli district, were safely rescued by a Coast Guard team. Arrangements have been made for their stay at a primary school.
Chief Minister Patel has asked all the District Collectors to take necessary steps to protect lives and properties in view of a forecast for heavy rain in various districts of Saurashtra and South Gujarat. He also urged the collectors to ensure that the district administration concerned continued to issue frequent warnings asking people to be careful during heavy rain, and not to cross rivers and streams.
Onset of monsoon
As the Southwest monsoon advanced into north Arabian Sea and Gujarat, along with other parts of the country, its northern limit passed Veraval, Bhavnagar and Vadodara on Monday.
Conditions are favourable for further advancement of the Southwest Monsoon over more parts of Gujarat during the next 24 hours, the IMD stated.
The IMD has issued a forecast of very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall on Tuesday attributing it to the upper air cyclonic circulation over south Gujarat. The state is also expected to receive very heavy rainfall during the rest of this week. “Under its influence, a low-pressure area is likely to form over the same region during the next 24 hours and it is likely to become more marked and move north-northwestwards during the subsequent 24 hours,” IMD’s Ahmedabad Regional Director A K Das told The Indian Express.
The weather department, in its forecast for Tuesday, has predicted “heavy to very heavy rains with extremely heavy rainfall in the districts of Saurashtra – Junagadh, Gir Somnath, heavy to very heavy rain in the districts of Bharuch, Surat, Navsari, Valsad, Rajkot, Porbandar, Amreli and Bhavnagar, Anand, Vadodara, Chhota Udepur, Narmada, Dang and Tapi, Dwarka and Jamnagar”.
Further, light thunderstorm with lightning and surface winds of 30-40 kmph, accompanied by light to moderate rain in all the districts of North Gujarat, South Gujarat, Saurashtra-Kutch on Tuesday, the weater department stated.
Saurashtra and South districts are expected to receive heavy rainfall till June 22.
Sharing more details on the rescue operation, the state government, in a release, said that the fire team reached the house where the students were trapped around 50 metres away by a boat (Express File/Javed Raja) 
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