Copious rain causes flood in Gujarat, thousands marooned; high alert sounded

Ahmedabad: Incessant rain during the last 36 hours has thrown life out of gear in Gujarat.

Copious rain has caused floods in several areas of Gujarat with Banaskantha, Sabarkantha and Patan the most affected.

The state authority has issued a state-wide 'high alert' and military has been deployed to help in relief and rescue operations.

Having been severely handicapped due to extreme weather conditions for most of the day on Monday, the India Air Force (IAF) used a window of opportunity on Tuesday with slightly better weather conditions and launched 04 MI-17V5 helicopters for flood rescue and relief operations in Gujarat. A total of five helicopters have been pressed into service by the forces.

The Air Force, Army and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and its state wing are involved in the rescue operations.

Tharad town has received maximum rainfall of 24 inches, followed by Dhanera 20 inches, Dantiwada 18, Palanpur 15, Deesa and Diyodar 13 inches each, Patan 12 inches and Vadgam about 11 inches.

In all, entire Gujarat has registered 534 mm of rain, which is 66 per cent of its total usual seasonal average of 810 mm.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, who reviewed the situation with top officials, said the problem has been compounded by heavy rains in neighbouring Rajasthan which led to surge in water levels of rivers and dams in Gujarat.

As many as 38 of the 203 dams across the state are on high alert.

Dholidhaja, Vansal and Nimbam dams in Surendranagar, Machchhu-1 and Ghodadharoi in Morbi and Kankawati dam in Jamnagar districts have received up to 90 per cent of their water storage capacity.

Excess water was being released into the Sabarmati from Vasna Barrage and Dharoi dam, 70 km upstream of Ahmedabad.