Narmada below danger mark

Although Swain admitted that several parts of the Bharuch, Jhagadia and Ankleshwar talukas still had slush, he claimed that as the water-level receded gradually and official agencies took up the mop-up operation in a big way, the mud and slush would be cleaned soon.

In Vadodara, though the falling level of the river exposed more than two dozen of the total 108 steps at the Ma Narmada shrine, a large number of fields were discovered to have been damaged in the recent floods. Farmers of the Sura Samad village in Shinor taluka, which bore the brunt of the floods, staged a token fast at the village Collectorate office on Saturday.

Admitting that farmers had been protesting against the damage to crops, District Collector Anil Mukim said administration officials had assured the farmers of total assistance from the State government.

Meanwhile, as many as five talukas of the district recorded good rainfall in the 24 hours ending 5 pm on Sunday. Officials say Jetpurpavi received 22 mm total rainfall so far 461 mm, Dabhoi 2 mm 387 mm, Chhotaudepur 45 mm 331 mm, Naswadi 14 mm 415 mm and Kwant 8 mm 234 mm. Further rain has been forecast in some parts of the district during the next 24 hours.