Veraval, Rajkot in troubled waters

After a long dry spell, it is pouring in Gujarat, submerging large areas in coastal Saurashtra. Heavy rains also battered central and south Gujarat..

After a long dry spell, it is pouring in Gujarat, submerging large areas in coastal Saurashtra. Heavy rains also battered central and south Gujarat where most dams are overflowing. The toll this monsoon has gone up to 290 with nine deaths in the past two days.

In the port town of Veraval in Junagadh district, the army has been called in to rescue people stranded in houses in low-lying areas. The 1.5 lakh people in the town spent a sleepless night as the high tide kept the rain water in, raising water levels in low-lying areas. All communication systems were paralysed till Wednesday evening in Veraval and nearby areas, where about 350 villages have been completely cut-off. With many roads washed away, the state transport corporation has withdrawn services from the town to Una and Talala.

As many as six deaths have been reported from the district since the rains started on Tuesday. The Forest Department is, meanwhile, keeping a vigil in the Gir Lion National Park as dams and reservoirs inside the sanctuary are overflowing. Deputy Conservator of Forests Maneshwar Raja said: 8220;Very heavy rainfall has been reported in Gir forest and four major dams have overflowed. Fortunately, no wildlife fatalities have been reported so far.8221;

Junagadh Collector Ashwini Kumar said: 8220;Rains have stopped now and apart from some societies water has started receding from most areas. Food packets and water pouches have been distributed with the help of NGOs.8221; Minister I K Jadeja and Principal Secretary Food and Civil Supplies S K Nanda have rushed to Veraval to review the situation.

An IAF helicopter was pressed into service to rescue seven GEB employees trapped at the sub-station in Pipli village of Jamnagar district.

In Rajkot, which recorded around 4 inches in the last 12 hours, three persons drowned and more than 200 hutments were washed away after the Aji and Khokhadali rivers broke their banks and flooded residential societies in the old city area. About 10,000 people have been shifted to safer areas. The Government said two columns of the National Disaster Response Force have been sent to Rajkot.

The Aji-I Dam, one of the major reservoirs for Rajkot city, has been overflowing posing a threat to localities downstream. Schools, colleges and markets remained closed and traffic movement was reduced to a trickle.

Story continues below this ad

D A Satya, OSD attached to the State Emergency Response Centre, said about 400 villages in Junagadh, Jamnagar and Rajkot districts of Saurashtra remain cut off due to heavy rains.

An alert has been sounded in Tarapore and Khambha talukas in Anand district as authorities prepared to release water from the Kadana, Panam and Vanakbori dams late on Wednesday evening.