News Analysis India

Tag: Gujarat rains

  • Gujarat rains:11 dead in 24 hrs, 54 deaths reported so far

    By Express News Service

    AHMEDABAD: Heavy rains continued to lash parts of south Gujarat and the Saurashtra region on Friday, with six talukas receiving over 200 mm rainfall in 24 hours. There appears to be no immediate respite in sight as the India Meteorological Department has predicted “heavy to very heavy rainfall” at some places on Saturday.

    “A total of 54 deaths have been reported in the state so far; 11 people have died in the last 24 hours. Three of them fell off a bridge and died,” Disaster Management Minister Rajendra Trivedi said. The water levels in Purna and Ambika rivers in Navsari have decreased, and as the situation improved, only two districts — including Valsad and Dang — are on red alert, Trivedi added. 

    “Over 800 people have been rescued in 24 hours. This is the first incident of such a large-scale rescue in a single day. Disaster response teams have done commendable work. As many as 1,254 people have been rescued since July 7. Nine people have been airlifted by the Air Force in Navsari,” said Trivedi.

    AHMEDABAD: Heavy rains continued to lash parts of south Gujarat and the Saurashtra region on Friday, with six talukas receiving over 200 mm rainfall in 24 hours. There appears to be no immediate respite in sight as the India Meteorological Department has predicted “heavy to very heavy rainfall” at some places on Saturday.

    “A total of 54 deaths have been reported in the state so far; 11 people have died in the last 24 hours. Three of them fell off a bridge and died,” Disaster Management Minister Rajendra Trivedi said. The water levels in Purna and Ambika rivers in Navsari have decreased, and as the situation improved, only two districts — including Valsad and Dang — are on red alert, Trivedi added. 

    “Over 800 people have been rescued in 24 hours. This is the first incident of such a large-scale rescue in a single day. Disaster response teams have done commendable work. As many as 1,254 people have been rescued since July 7. Nine people have been airlifted by the Air Force in Navsari,” said Trivedi.

  • Gujarat: Heavy rains lash some areas, five NDRF teams moved to Surat, Banaskantha, Rajkot

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: Heavy rains lashed parts of south Gujarat and Saurashtra regions, causing a flood-like situation in the affected areas, prompting the deployment of five National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams in Surat, Banaskantha and Rajkot districts, officials said on Sunday.

    Parts of Navsari and Tapi districts in south Gujarat, as well as Devbhumi Dwarka, Junagadh and Jamnagar received heavy rainfall in the 24-hour period ending 6 am on Sunday, with the state’s 30 talukas receiving rainfall of over 50 millimetres, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said.

    Parts of Narmada, Bharuch, Surat and Vadodara were among those that received good rainfall during the day, it said.

    With the India Meteorological Department predicting heavy to very rainfall in some isolated pockets of Gujarat over the next five days, the NDRF moved five of its teams to Surat, Banaskantha and Rajkot districts as “pre-monsoon deployment” from its base in Vadodara, the agency said in a Twitter update.

    One team each has been moved to Surat and Banaskantha, and three to Rajkot, the specialised relief and disaster combat agency added.

    Navsari witnessed major waterlogging, leading to traffic jams and blockage of underpasses.

    In Junagadh and Devbhumi Dwarka, monsoonal rivers received water and so did local dams, officials said.

    As per the SEOC, over a 24-hour period ending at 6am, Vansda taluka of Navsari district received 136 mm rainfall, Khambhaliya in Devbhumi Dwarka got 114 mm rainfall, while it was 106mm in Manavadar in Junagadh, and 98 mm in Dolvan in Tapi.

    The IMD had, on Saturday, said the southwest monsoon had covered and was active over Gujarat region, with light to moderate rain very likely over the next five days.

  • Gujarat rains: Three dead, several relocated in Saurashtra; NDRF, SDRF teams deployed

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: Heavy rains battered parts of Gujarat’s Saurashtra region on Monday, leading to the deaths of three people in Rajkot and Jamnagar as rivers overflowed and low-lying areas got flooded, prompting the authorities to issue alerts and deploy NDRF and SRDF teams for evacuation and relief.

    District authorities said that Indian Air Force helicopters were pressed into service in Jamnagar and Rajkot to airlift people.

    Lodhika taluka in Rajkot received 435 millimetres of rainfall in a 10-hour period since 6am on Monday, while Visavadar taluka in Junagadh got 364 mm, Kalavad in Jamnagar 348 mm, Rajkot taluka 305 mm, Dhoraji in Rajkot 202 mm, Kotdasangani in Rajkot 190 mm, Gondal in Rajkot 162 mm, State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) officials said.

    A woman and two men drowned after their cars were washed away by the intensity of rains in two separate incidents in Kalavad in Rajkot and Jam Jodhpur in Jamnagar districts, respectively, officials said. Several teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were rushed to Rajkot, Junagadh and Jamnagar, they said.

    Around 20 people were airlifted by Indian Air Force helicopters from various villages in Jamnagar district, and 30 others rescued as well, Collector Sourabh Pardhi said, while Rajkot Collector Arun Mahesh Babu informed that IAF choppers were preparing to airlift 22 people from three different villages in his district.

    “So far we have relocated a total 1,155 people to safe places in the district, and the process continues. A team of the NDRF from Bhatinda in Punjab and two teams of SDRF from Banaskantha and Vadodara will be here to help in rescue operations,” Babu said.

    Pardhi said two teams of the NDRF and one of SDRF were carrying out rescue operations in affected areas in Jamnagar.

    An SEOC official said a part of the national highway between Jamnagar and Kalavad was blocked due to flooding, while six state highways in Jamnagar, Amreli and Porbandar districts and 58 village roads in different districts were similarly affected.

    Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department, during the day, forecast widespread rainfall across Gujarat till Wednesday, including “heavy to very heavy rainfall with isolated extremely heavy rainfall in a few places in the districts of Saurashtra during the next four days”.

    Parts of south Gujarat and other districts may also receive heavy to very heavy rainfall during this period, the IMD added.

  • Gujarat: Heavy rains in Valsad; two killed in lightning strike in Mehsana

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: Heavy rains lashed Valsad district and other areas of south Gujarat on Tuesday, causing inundation in many low-lying areas, officials said.

    Besides, two persons died after being struck by lightning in Mehsana district on Monday night, they said.

    The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted an “active wet spell” over the next few days.

    From 6 am till noon on Tuesday, heavy showers lashed several parts of Valsad district, with its Umargam taluka receiving 225 mm rain and Vapi-109 mm downpour, as per the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC).

    Also, Kaprada and Pardi talukas in Valsad received 54 and 29 mm rainfall, respectively, while Khergam in neighbouring Navsari district got 26 mm rain during the same period, the SEOC said.

    Water-logging in many low-lying areas of Valsad threw normal life out of gear and affected the movement of commuters.

    Several parts of Gujarat have been receiving showers since Monday evening.

    Lightning strike killed a woman and a teenaged boy in Ganpatpura village of Mehsana on Monday night, an official at Visnagar taluka police station said.

    According to the SEOC, 155 out of the state’s 251 talukas received some amount of rainfall in the 24-hour period ending at 6 am on Tuesday.

    Gujarat has so far this monsoon season recorded about 50 per cent rain deficiency, with six out of the total 33 districts having recorded downpour classified under the “large deficient” (with over 60 per cent lower than normal) category, as per the IMD.

    As against 120.38 mm rainfall in June this year and 176.70 mm in July, Gujarat received only 65.2 mm rainfall in August, according to the SEOC.

  • PM Narendra Modi calls up Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani to take stock of preparations for cyclone Tauktae

    By PTI
    AHMEDABAD: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday evening called up Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and took stock of the preparations to deal with cyclonic storm Tauktae which has intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm and is expected to reach the Gujarat coast in the night.

    The prime minister assured the state government of all possible help to deal with the situation. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday evening called up Chief Minister Vijay Rupani over the phone and sought details of preparation by the state government to deal with cyclone Tauktae,” the Chief Minister’s Office said in a release.

    ALSO READ| Cyclone Tauktae: Police personnel in Mumbai maintain vigil amid rains and winds

    It said that the chief minister apprised the PM about the precautionary steps being taken by the state government to tackle the situation.

    Rupani had said that the Gujarat government has so far evacuated to safer places 1.5 lakh people living in the 10-km radius of coastal areas of different districts that are likely to bear the brunt of the cyclonic storm.

    A total of 44 teams of the National Disaster Response Force along with personnel of the police and local officials have been deployed along the coast in various districts.

    As per the latest update given by the IMD, cyclone Tauktae, which has now intensified into an “extremely severe cyclonic storm”, is likely to cross the Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva, around 20 km east of the Union territory of Diu between 8 pm and 11 pm on Monday with a maximum sustained wind speed of 155-165 kmph.