Gujarat Floods: Several roads and bridges were damaged causing inconvenience to people
Heavy rains pounded parts of south and central Gujarat districts over the last couple of days, sending rivers in spate and causing flood-like situations. Over 6,000 people have been evacuated from several low-lying areas in the affected districts, officials said.
Several roads and bridges have been damaged following incessant rains causing inconvenience to people in the affected areas. Thirteen dams have been put on 'high alert' and eight on 'alert' as their water level rose due to the heavy showers, they added.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel held an emergency meeting on Sunday to review the measures taken to deal with the situation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured Patel of all possible help from the central government.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams and local administration are carrying out relief and rescue operations in the affected districts.
Nearly 1,000 people were shifted to safer places from various rain-hit areas in Valsad, while a total of 5,245 people were evacuated in Udepur district.
A video shows officials rescuing people on boats and taking them to safe spots in Valsad.
Authorities in the Navsari district are also on alert with the Kaveri and Ambika rivers flowing above the danger mark. Around 300 people staying in low-lying areas have been evacuated so far in Navsari.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall with isolated extremely heavy showers during the next five days in the Dang, Navsari and Valsad districts.
Several other districts in south and central Gujarat and the Saurashtra region are also likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall during this period, the Weather Office said.
The state has so far received 36 per cent of its average annual rainfall, as per the data shared by the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC)