BSF officer cremated on the banks of KshipraThe district collector placed wreath on the body on behalf of the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh. Thousands of people attended the funeral of the valiant son of India, who laid his life for the motherland.Rains claim 22 lives in AP, cause breaches to irrigation tanksHYDERABAD: Incessant rains lashing several parts of Andhra Pradesh for the last four days, have claimed 22 lives, besides causing breaches to over 100 minor irrigation tanks, it was officially stated here. Warangal district reported heavy toll of 13 deaths due to lightening, while in Kurnool five persons were killed in rain-related incidents, K Krishna Rao, additional relief commissioner said. Two persons died when lightening struck them in Nalgonda district, while Adilabad and Mahaboobnagar districts reported one death each in wall collapse, he said. The district administration has taken all measures to repair the damaged tanks.Meanwhile, the six fishermen from Pudimadaka village in Visakhapatnam district, who ventured into the sea, were yet to be traced, Rao said adding that search to trace them was still on.15 people killed in downpur in GujaratAHMEDABAD: Heavy rains lashing several parts of Gujarat have claimed 15 lives and the army has moved in to rescue people from several marooned areas of the city. Army columns rescued over 3000 people from marooned Meghani nagar, Virat Nagar, Mem Nagar and Dani Limbda areas of the city, which bore the brunt of the rains, recording 575 mm rainfall, the highest since 1953, civic commissioner K Kailashnathan said.Over 1000 people living in low-lying areas on the bank of the Sabarmati river were shifted to safer places, he said. Four children, including a girl, were swept away in the swollen Sabarmati yesterday, while two others were killed in wall-collapse in Saraspur and Meghani Nagar areas.Nine deaths have been reported from South Gujarat- four in Surat, three in Navasari and one each in Valsad and Bhaurach district, official sources said. Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel carried out an aerial survey of flood-hit areas of Ahmedabad. Meanwhile, normal life continued to be affected in the city. Most of the markets remained closed as several areas are still inundated in knee-deep water. Due to the opening of the Vasna Barrage, water-level in several city areas has started receding, he said. Rail and road traffic remained paralysed with Bagodra Highway leading to Rajkot closed. Traffic on the Ahmedabad-Baroda Highway was affected due to floods in the Kheda river.
