Heavy rains leave a trail of destruction in Gujarat
Nearly two crore people have been affected by more than 100 hours of continuous torrential rains in Gujarat where the communication network has come to an entire standstill.
Nearly two crore people have been affected by more than 100 hours of continuous torrential rains in Gujarat where the communication network has come to an entire standstill.
There is a trail of destruction in many parts of Gujarat with marooned villages, damaged railway lines and water logged roads.
The relentless downpour from the past seven days has prompted Chief Minister Narendra Modi to dub it as an 'aerial tsunami.'
"No living person can recollect such incessant rainfall. It has been raining continuously for 100 hours," Modi said.
The Met office said that the weather was improving slowly, but it would still continue to rain for two more days. But before the state heaves a sigh of relief, the weatherman has warned that another spell of rainfall, though of a lesser intensity, was likely to follow.
Official sources said the rainfall has affected over 1.78 crore people in 8,000-10,000 villages and 2.5 lakh people have been evacuated in cities alone. The evacuation in rural areas is yet to be ascertained.
The "aerial tsunami" has led to overflowing of 54 dams in the state, while eight have been damaged, the worst being 30 feet breach in the 230-feet tall Pratapura dam on the outskirts of Vadodara leading to water logging, they said.
If the breach does not spread it would take three days to drain out the excess water in the reservoir and flooding of Vadodara city cannot be ruled out.
Parts of Vadodara city and most areas of Anand and Kheda district of South Gujarat are under 10-12 feet of water. Most villages and smaller cities too are inundated.
Rivers Mahisagar, Shedhi, Vatrak and Vishwamitri are in spate.
The incessant rains have damaged roads, including state and national highways, at 3,700 locations and have not spared the modern expressways built using state-of-the-art technology.
The downpour has snapped rail connectivity, especially on the crucial Ahmedabad-Mumbai sector, leaving passengers stranded at several places.
According to official figures available last evening, one thousand passengers were stuck at Anand, another 2,000 at Vadodara, and 400 at Dakor in Kheda district where people have climbed the roof of a railway platform to escape from rising waters, the sources said.
The inclement weather has been hampering rescue operations in the deluged state. Army and CRPF personnel have been deployed in the state to carry out relief operations.
As many as 40 army boats had been air-lifted and 28 more were likely to be in position by tomorrow morning to rescue people affected due to the flood. Chlorine tablets, bleaching powder for providing safe drinking water were being airlifted in large quantities to the state.
As many as 12 helicopters of the Indian Air Force were kept in readiness at the Ahmedabad Airport, which was the only airport operational. Vadodra Airport was non-functional for any landing or take-off of planes.
The Centre has also accepted the state's demand for 10 more helicopters, 60 additional boats and two extra battalions of para-military forces for the relief work in the state, the sources said.
Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, who visited the flood-hit state said "money will not be a hindrance and the Centre will fulfil the financial aid demanded by the state government."
Both Patil and Modi said the total damage caused by the torrential rains would be assessed once the downpour subsides.
The Centre has announced an immediate aid of Rs 500 crore and more would be sanctioned once a scientific assessment of damages is done, Patil said.
