Ahmedabad, July 11
Several parts of districts in south and central Gujarat, including Ahmedabad, received very heavy rainfall over the last 24 hours, resulting in a flood-like situation in various low-lying areas from where over 6,000 people were shifted to safer places, officials said on Monday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called up Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and took details of the situation. He assured Patel of all possible help from the central government, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said in a statement.
Due to the widespread rains, 388 roads, including state highways and panchayat roads, were closed. Efforts were on to open them for the traffic. Thirteen teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 16 of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed to carry out rescue operations, a government release said.
Thirteen dams have been put on ‘high alert’ and eight on ‘alert’ as their water level rose due to the heavy showers, it said.
The IMD has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall with isolated extremely heavy showers during the next five days in south Gujarat, and heavy downpour in central parts of the state and Saurashtra.
Ahmedabad city received 219 mm downpour on Sunday night, causing water-logging in many residential areas and flooding on underpasses and roads. Several areas in the city inundated, resulting in hardships for commuters.
Schools and colleges in the city were closed on Monday.
