Gujarat braces for another round of downpours, even as the official death toll in the five days of rain-lashing till Aug 29 climbed to 47.
Between Aug 25 and 29, the maximum - seven - fatalities were reported from Jamnagar district followed by Ahmedabad and Anand which recorded six deaths each. Three people each died in Vadodara, Kheda, Mahisagar, Surendranagar and Kutch districts. Similarly, Gandhinagar, Bharuch, Dahod and Chhota Udepur recorded two deaths while Morbi, Dang, Aravalli, Panchmahals, Devbhoomi Dwarka reported one death each.
However, the toll doesn’t include the seven bodies recovered in Vadodara some days ago, the seven who drowned in Morbi, and two deaths due to electrocution in Vadodara.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), a depression formed in the Bay of Bengal is travelling towards Gujarat and Maharashtra. While parts of Panchmahal, Dahod and Chhota Udepur are expected to get heavy rains, parts of Narmada and Bharuch will get heavy to very heavy rains. Majority of south Gujarat districts and Bhavnagar are expected to get heavy rains.
As on Aug 31, the state has received 111% of seasonal rainfall. The Kutch region has got 179% of its seasonal average, followed by the Saurashtra with over 124%, and the South Gujarat with more than 111%.
Eighty six talukas have got more than 1,000 mm of rainfall while 125 talukas have recorded between 500 to 1,000 mm since the onset of monsoon on June 15. While light to moderate rainfall is expected across most parts of the state, several districts are likely to face heavy rainfall till Sept 6.
According to the IMD bulletin, an orange alert has been issued for Jamnagar, Porbandar, Dwarka, and Kutch, with expectations of heavy to very heavy rainfall. Additionally, Junagadh, Rajkot, Morbi, Gir Somnath, and Diu are under a yellow warning due to anticipated heavy rains, while the remaining areas are expected to experience light to moderate showers. The IMD has issued an orange alert for Vadodara and Chhota Udepur, forecasting heavy to very heavy rains.
Orange alert remains in effect for Narmada and Bharuch, with a yellow warning in place for Anand, Vadodara, Chhota Udepur, Surat, Dang, Tapi, Navsari, Valsad, Daman, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Amreli, and Bhavnagar.
In Jamnagar, which was badly hit by relentless rainfall, 15,000-20,000 people have been rescued or relocated with the help of army, NDRF and SDRF, and the coast guard.
Floods have damaged infrastructure, blocking the road connecting Padana Patiya to Changa Patiya and washing away a portion of a bridge over Sir PN Road. The Army and additional sanitation workers from Surat have been deployed to assist with rescue and cleanup operations.
BAPS joins flood relief
Due to heavy rains throughout Gujarat and the subsequent floods, many people were stranded in areas of Vadodara and Jamnagar. In both places, under the guidance of Mahant Swami Maharaj, swamis and volunteers of BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha contributed to the emergency flood relief efforts as requested by the local government authorities.
In Vadodara, BAPS prepared and distributed hot khichdi to 60,000 people, hot shiro to 25,000 people and over 50,000 food packets comprising sev, bundi, biscuits and drinking water to those affected by the floods. In Jamnagar, BAPS prepared 5,000 food packets, of which 2,000 were distributed to the flood-affected by BAPS volunteers and 3,000 were handed to the local government for distribution.
