Heavy rains cause flood-like situation in Gujarat; Dharampur in Valsad gets 234 mm in 24 hours

Heavy rains in several parts of Gujarat created a flood-like situation and led to many villages getting cut off, officials said on Sunday.

Some parts of Valsad and Navsari districts received extremely heavy rainfall in a 24-hour period till Sunday morning, data from the State Emergency Operation Centre revealed.

Several villages were cut off as roads were flooded or had been washed away, with the National and State Disaster Response Forces (NDRF and SDRF) engaged in operations to rescue stranded people, officials said.

Jamnagar is one of the worst-affect districts with police saying 11 people have died in rain-related incidents since Friday.

A three-year-old girl died after falling into a well while scooping water out of her flooded house there on Friday, while bodies of two men who had gone missing after heavy rainfall were found on Saturday by a rescue team, police added.

Villages in Limbdi taluka of Surendranagar district were cut off due to the flooding of approach roads, with seven people being rescued by local residents from one of the villages, state government officials said.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the Gujarat government was taking all efforts to provide relief to people amid heavy rains.

"The government is working hard to provide all possible help to the people affected by the flood-like situation in many places due to heavy rains in Gujarat. Talked to Chief Minister @Bhupendrabjp and got information about the situation.

"Teams of NDRF and SDRF as well as local administration are busy helping people in these areas. The central and state governments stand with the people in these difficult times," Shah tweeted.

In the last 24 hours, the state has received 32 millimetres average rainfall, with Dharampur taluka in Valsad district leading with 234 mm, the SEOC said.

It said 205 talukas of the state received a significant amount of rainfall, with parts of Valsad, Navsari, Junagadh, Amreli, Chhota Udepur, Ahmedabad and Surendranagar districts receiving between 100-234 mm of rain.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said heavy rains were very likely at isolated places in the districts of south Gujarat and Saurashtra till Monday morning.

The IMD, in its latest forecast, also said several parts of Gujarat are likely to receive light to moderate rainfall during the next five days.