Heavy rain that continue to lash several parts of Gujarat since Saturday last have thrown normal life out of gear. The State, which has received an average of over 38 mm of rains in last 24 hours, has also hit air and railway traffic.
While several flights were diverted or delayed due to rains and potholes in newly laid out runway, as many as five trains are reported to have been cancelled and 13 trains diverted during the day. Over 600 persons have also been evacuated from several parts of Patan district in North Gujarat.
The State Government has also put four of the 203 water bodies in the State on high alert and other four on alert. This has been done as water storage level in these dams has reached over 90 per cent of their storage capacity. Of the total 15770.39 million cubic meters of storage capacity, these 203 water bodies currently have 4986.37 million cubic meters of water.
“All the district collectors and officials of the state disaster management have been asked to stay alert and instructed to help people. Despite flood-like situation due to heavy rains in last two days, thankfully no life has been lost,” Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani told mediapersons. The State Government has also sought a survey for any loss due to rains in the State.
Meanwhile, the regional Met department said that monsoon was vigorous over Saurashtra-Kutch and active over Gujarat region due to upper cyclonic circulation over South-East Rajasthan and adjoining areas. The Met department said that the season’s total rains till Monday morning reached 147.33 mm, 45.4 mm higher than the normal.
Releasing figures, Met Department said that Diu received maximum rains in the State, clocking 138.6 mm rains in 24 hours, followed by Surendranagar with 83 mm, Deesa in North Gujarat at 81.8 mm rains.
The city of Ahmedabad, that received around 40 mm of rains saw life thrown completely out of gear, with water-logging in many parts of the city and roads washed out.
The Met department has forecast intermittent light to moderate rain across the State, with heavy rains at times in the coming five days.