Ahmedabad: At least 1,300 people have been rescued from the rain-affected areas of Gujarat out of which 811 were rescued in a single-day from Gujarat’s Navsari district, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said on Saturday here.
The rescue operation was held on Friday. “Coast Guard, NDRF, and local swimmers worked hard throughout the night to get everyone out safely in this operation. Teams of NDRF and SDRF are deployed in Navsari and more teams are on standby and coordination with the Centre is underway.” It was stated in the video conference held under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister.
A team of 200 workers of the Surat Municipal Corporation has deployed six JCBs, five dewatering pumps, tipper trucks, more than 47 golf machines for cleaning, mud removal and drug spraying in Navsari district under ‘Operation Niramaya’. Apart from this, 40 health teams have also been deployed in the affected areas of Navsari district for disease prevention and control, the Chief Minister was informed. As many as 14,900 people have been evacuated from the rain-hit areas to shelters.
The District Collector of Dang district told Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel that the intensity of rain is now decreasing and the water in the rivers has started receding. The road to Saputara, which was closed due to mudslides and rock falls, has been reopened for two-wheelers.
The Chief Minister also received detailed information about the rainfall situation in Junagadh, Gir-Somnath and Porbandar districts and the warning signals installed at ports and precautionary measures to prevent fishermen from going into the sea.
Gujarat has received good rain so far. The state’s 207 reservoirs had 50.92 per cent water storage till Friday. 1,69,139 mcft, i.e., 50.63 per cent of the total storage capacity has been stored in Sardar Sarovar Dam, the lifeblood of the state.
According to the reports received by the Flood Cell of the State Water Resources Department, 3,02,397 MCFT, i.e., 54.18 per cent of the total water storage capacity has been restored in the 206 reservoirs of the state.
A total of 27 reservoirs in the state have more than 100 per cent water storage. While in 41 reservoirs between 70 per cent and 100 per cent, in 29 reservoirs (including Sardar Sarovar) between 50 per cent and 70 per cent, in 48 reservoirs between 25 per cent and 50 per cent, 62 reservoirs less than 25 per cent water storage till now. These reservoirs include 15 reservoirs in North Gujarat, 17 reservoirs in Central Gujarat, 13 reservoirs in South Gujarat, 20 reservoirs in Kutch and 141 reservoirs in Saurashtra.
A high-level meeting was held at SEOC Gandhinagar under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar to review the rain-affected areas of the state, including Navsari. It has been decided to survey the state on a priority basis and pay aid and cash doles. Two additional Collectors and five Deputy Collectors have been immediately appointed by the state government to speed up the relief and survey operations in Navsari district, Chief Secretary Pankajkumar said.
As much as 22 inches of rain fell in the Bodeli area of Chotaudepur district, causing heavy devastation. Due to heavy rainfall, the cemetery of Bodeli has flooded. More than 100 graves were found submerged in the rushing water. The immediate repairs of the cemetery was started by the local Muslim youth. Chotaudepur Municipal President Sangramsinh Rathwa also visited the cemetery and saw the damage and requested the government to allocate a grant for the early construction of the collapsed defence wall of the cemetery.
Heavy rain has also created misery in the Khadsripa village of Navsari district. Due to heavy rain and floods, eight feet of water filled Panjarapol for three days. About 100 cows died in the flood.
(IANS)
