Heavy rain lashes Gujarat, over 9,500 people evacuated 

Kadana Dam released around 7.5 lakh cusec water into Mahi river on Sunday, causing several parts of Vadodara district to submerge. In Desar taluka of Vadodara, Daulatpura-Vaktapur bridge went under water, cutting off access.

Vadodara District Collector A B Gor issued a warning to the villages located on the banks of Mahisagar river — 12 villages in Desar, 14 in Savli, 10 in Padra and 9 in Vadodara rural talukas.

Meanwhile, the Sardar Sarovar Dam, recorded a level of 138.58 m late Sunday, just 10 cm short of its full reservoir level. The water released from the dam in Narmada on Wednesday caused a flood-like situation in several villages located along the banks in Vadodara, Karjan, Dabhoi and Shinor talukas of the Vadodara district.

Among the over 9,600 people relocated, while majority were from Bharuch — 5,744 — 2,317 people belonged to the three talukas of Narmada and 1,462 to the three talukas of Vadodara.

Further, as per State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) data, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rescued 80 people from Garudeshwar and Tilakwada talukas of Narmada and 48 from Vadodara’s Karjan, Dabhoi and Shinor talukas. The NDRF Vadodara battalion rescued 16 people, including one woman and 10 children, from Siyar village in Karjan that went under water even as the administration shifted 1,487 people to safer locations overnight following the swelling of Narmada.

The Narmada district collector directed that schools and colleges in the district to remain closed on Monday, in view of the rising level of the Sardar Sarovar Dam, following a red alert issued for the district and the catchment areas of the dam in Madhya Pradesh.

The NDRF further rescued 199 people from low-lying areas of Gabhana and Akteshwar near the dam on Sunday evening. They included two children, one infant and eight women. It further rescued 105 people from Nikora village in Bharuch district.

While two NDRF battalions have been deployed in Narmada, one each have been pressed into service at Panchmahal, Rajkot, Junagadh and Vadodara. Three battalions of State Disaster Response Force have been deployed in Vadodara and one each in Banaskantha, Bharuch and Narmada, the government said.

Between 6 am and 4 pm on Sunday, Sehera, Godhra and Morva Hadaf in Panchmahal recorded the highest rainfall measuring 216 mm, 189 mm and 162 mm, respectively. In all, 164 talukas recorded rainfall in the state.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a warning that heavy rainfall will continue in these parts on Monday. The state is expected to receive heavy rain till September 20, including Jamnagar and Dwarka.

According to SEOC figures, the other talukas that received rainfall above 100 mm during these 10 hours were Virpur (182 mm), Lunawada (158 mm) and Balasinor (106 mm) in Mahisagar; Talod (162 mm) and Prantij (129 mm) in Sabarkantha; Bayad (140 mm) and Dhansura (128 mm) in Aravalli; Kapadvanj (121 mm), Mahudha (121 mm) and Kathlal (115 mm) in Kheda and Limkheda (118 mm) in Dahod districts.

The IMD forecast predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall with isolated extremely heavy rain in the districts of Banaskantha, Sabarkantha and Aravalli. It added that heavy to very heavy rain can also occur in the districts of Patan, Mehsana, Gandhinagar and Mahisagar, Kheda, Ahmedabad and Panchmahal, along with districts of Saurashtra, including Surendranagar, and in Kutch.

The IMD cautioned that light thunderstorm with lightning, accompanied with light to moderate rain, is very likely at isolated places in all the districts of Saurashtra and Kutch.

As Ahmedabad city, too, recorded heavy rainfall – average of 90 mm – till 4 pm on Sunday, newly-appointed Mayor Pratibha Jain and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s (AMC) Standing Committee Chairman Devang Dani reviewed the situation at the civic body’s control room.

Due to the rain, six gates of Vasna barrage were opened. A few underpasses were closed for traffic, including Meethakali and Akhbarnagar underpasses. Complaints of waterlogging were received by AMC from 84 locations while reports of tree falling came from at 15 locations across the city.

The east zone recorded the highest rainfall of 110.91 mm, followed by central zone (106 mm) and north and west zone (104 mm each). Odhav received 151 mm of rainfall, followed by Ranip (135 mm), Viratnagar (132 mm), Chandlodiya (124.5 mm), Memco (121 mm), Dudheshwar (117 mm) and Naroda (115 mm).