Six dead as heavy showers continue in Gujarat; 18,000 people evacuated

The death toll in rain-related incidents in Gujarat since June 1 has risen to 69.Besides south and Central Gujarat, heavy rains lashed several areas in Kutch and Rajkot districts.With the forecast of heavy to very heavy rainfall in several districts of Gujarat, necessary instructions have been given to the administration to relocate people from low-lying areas in advance, State Relief Commissioner P Swaroop said.Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel conducted an aerial inspection of the rain-affected areas and visited Bodeli town in the Chhota Udepur district and Rajpipla in the Narmada district.

Heavy downpour covered more regions of Gujarat on Tuesday where six people died in rain-related incidents in the last 24 hours, while over 18,000 people were evacuated from the affected areas, officials said. The death toll in rain-related incidents in Gujarat since June 1 has risen to 69.

Besides south and Central Gujarat, heavy rains lashed several areas in Kutch and Rajkot districts.

''With the forecast of heavy to very heavy rainfall in several districts of Gujarat, necessary instructions have been given to the administration to relocate people from low-lying areas in advance,'' State Relief Commissioner P Swaroop said.

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel conducted an aerial inspection of the rain-affected areas and visited Bodeli town in the Chhota Udepur district and Rajpipla in the Narmada district. After attending a review meeting, State Disaster Management Minister Rajendra Trivedi said 27,896 people have been relocated from flood-affected areas in the last few days, out of which 18,225 remain in shelters, while the others have returned home after the water receded.

''In rain-related incidents, six more people lost their lives in the last 24 hours, raising the death toll to 69 since June 1 this year in Gujarat,'' he said. Navsari, Valsad, and Chhota Udepur districts remain worst affected by rains in the last two days, with swollen rivers flooding low-lying areas. In Navsari, several areas remained submerged in rainwater, with over 9,000 people shifted.

Swaroop said a high alert is sounded for 18 reservoirs in Gujarat. Three reservoirs are on alert due to heavy rainfall over the last few days in different districts.

A total of 18 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed in different districts in south and central Gujarat and Saurashtra.

The Met department has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall in Dwarka, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Morbi and Kutch districts in Saurashtra and in Chhota Udepur, Bharuch, Narmada, Surat, Tapi, Dang, Navsari and Valsad districts in south Gujarat and Kutch in the next few days. In 12 hours on Tuesday, Vagra (231 mm) taluka in the Bharuch district received very heavy rainfall, followed by Anjar (212 mm) Bhuj (197 mm) and Gandhidham (171 mm) in Kutch, and Waghai (144 mm) in Dang.

Rajkot city received 217 mm of rainfall since Monday night, throwing the normal life out of gear in the main urban centre of the Saurashtra region. Roads and low-lying societies were flooded due to rains. Vadodara, Navsari, Surat and Jamnagar districts also received substantial rainfall. Heavy rains sent several reservoirs swelling in Gujarat. The Sardar Sarovar reservoir is 47.71 per cent full, a rise of 7 per cent over a week. ''As of now, the total 206 reservoirs in Gujarat are at 33.6 per cent of their total water storage capacity,'' Swaroop added.