Gujarat receives above-average monsoon rain; several districts flooded

Heavy rains since Saturday (September 6) have brought several districts of Gujarat to a standstill. By Sunday (September 7) evening, Gujarat had recorded 102.89 per cent of the average monsoon rainfall in the current season.

Central, North, and South Gujarat received the most rainfall, with 107.34 per cent, 107.99 per cent, and 106.50 per cent, respectively, while Saurashtra region received an average rainfall off 91.29 per cent.

Currently, 12 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 22 State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams have been deployed in various districts in the state, and 1,045 people have been rescued.

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Dams bursting at the seams

In 16 hours, 91 talukas across nine districts received more than 4 inches of rain, shutting down over 500 roads in rural areas.

In Ahmedabad, the water level at Vasna barrage reached 131 feet by 5 pm on Sunday, forcing the authorities to open 27 gates, discharging 93,658 cusecs of water into Sabarmati River.

On the other hand, the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Narmada district is already at 91.26 per cent of its total capacity of water storage. Adding to that, 123 dams out of the total 206 in Gujarat are on high alert.

In Aravalli district, a landslide on the highway connecting the district with Rajasthan has forced the district administration to suspend movement on the highway. Earlier, one person was killed in another landslide in Mahisagar.

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The worst affected

Among the worst affected areas are Suigam, Vav, Bhabhar, and Tharad talukas of Banaskantha, and Santalpur and Radhanpur in Patan district in North Gujarat, Tapi and Vyara in South Gujarat, Dehgam in Gandhinagar, and parts of Vadodara in Central Gujarat.

Around 4 pm on Sunday, Suigam and Tharad talukas of Banaskantha experienced a cloudburst, causing 16 inches of rainfall in just three hours. The highway connecting Vav-Suigam in Banaskantha with Radhanpur in Patan was submerged under 3–4 feet of water.

The otherwise arid Nadabet village of Suigam taluka, which shares the international border with Pakistan, was completely submerged along with the fencing at the LOC.

More than 12 inches of rain was recorded in Tharad town in 24 hours, causing up to 4 feet of waterlogging.

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Stranded people rescued

Around 60 people were stranded at various places in Suigam since Monday (September 8) and rescued by the Gujarat’s State Disaster Response Force (SDRF).

“The Banas River, which passes through Banaskantha district, has been overflowing since yesterday and was very turbulent. We could not navigate the high current of the river till yesterday evening,” MP Raval, an official of SDRF, Gujarat, said on Monday evening.

“Today, seven teams of SDRF were able to reach Suigam, Tharad, and Vav talukas using lifeboats. So far, we have rescued 62 people from Limboli, Bhardwa, Jaloy villages of Suigam, 12 from Tharad, and six from Vav taluka. The rescue operations continued till 7 pm. We will again resume the operations tomorrow morning,” he added.

“Yesterday, we rescued one man from Amirgarh taluka in Banaskantha. The young man was swept away in the strong currents of Banas River, and had been stuck among the rocks in the raging river since September 6. It was an extremely risky rescue operation and one SDRF personnel got injured in the rescue process. Later, the district authorities rushed him to the Banas General hospital in Palanpur, Banaskantha,” added Raval.

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Anganwadis, schools, colleges shut till today

Due to heavy rainfall and floods in Banaskantha district, all Anganwadis, schools and colleges will remain closed till today (September 9), Mihir Patel, Banaskantha District Collector, told The Federal. “Residents of multiple villages from the northernmost talukas of the district have been shifted to higher areas like Palanpur,” Patel added.

In Khedbrahma taluka of Sabarkantha, nine farmers who had taken their cattle out for grazing were trapped in the current between the Sabarmati and Hathmati rivers. All nine were rescued by the NDRF on Monday morning.

“The nine are farmers who had stepped out of their houses despite our advice of staying at home following a red alert by the IMD. Within half an hour of taking their cattle out for grazing, the cows were swept away by the Sabarmati that is still overflowing through the district,” said Sabarkantha Collector Lalit Narayan Singh.

“The men then tried to save their cows and, in the process, got swept away. Luckily, two of them got stuck in a submerged pole, while one person was stuck in a submerged tree. The other six people were carried downstream by the current and rescued ahead of the Hathmati River,” Singh narrated.

“The residents of seven talukas have been shifted to higher grounds since yesterday. In some talukas like Himmatnagar, Idar, and Bhiloda, water has been receding since this morning,” added Singh.

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White Rann turns into water body

In Kutch district, Rapar, Lakhpat and Bhuj talukas received extreme rainfall in 24 hours, causing a part of NH-927C, which connects Rapar taluka with the rest of the district, to get washed away.

Movement of vehicles on highways connecting Dhordo, Hajipir, Rapar, Ramvav, Balasar, Vrajvani, Lakhpat, and Khavda has been suspended by the orders of the Kutch District Collector until further notice.

Dhordo village in Bhuj, where the Rann festival is organized every year, got submerged under six inches of water, turning the White Rann desert into a massive water body.

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Crops damaged across state

In multiple parts of Gujarat, heavy damage has been caused to kharif crops such as groundnut, cotton, castor and sesame.

In Banaskantha, farmers have lost the majority of groundnut and sesame yield ahead of harvesting season. In Gir Somnath, Amreli, Junagadh, Sabarkantha, and Botad districts, cotton farmers have been rendered helpless with fields getting submerging in heavy rains.

“Due to constant rains, groundnut plants have already been damaged in the water-logged fields. The farmers will be bearing a complete loss this season. Re-sowing another crop in the fields immediately after the water recedes is also not possible, as the soil will be completely damaged,” said Sagar Rabari, the President of Khedut Samaj, a Gujarat-based farmers organization and a member of the Aam Aadmi Party.

“Last year, the farmers of Gujarat suffered a massive loss due to unseasonal rains. The Gujarat government had announced a relief package of Rs 61.60 crore after inspection. However, only Rs 23.36 have been utilized until now,” he added.

Meanwhile, a review meeting was held at the State Emergency Operation Center (SEOC) Gandhinagar under Chief Secretary Pankaj Joshi on September 8 to review the flood situation across the state.

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Red alert in several districts

According to the IMD, the red alert issued for Banaskantha, Sabarkantha, Aravalli, Mehsana, and Surendranagar districts and the orange alert for Patan, Gandhinagar, Kheda, Mahisagar, Morbi, Rajkot and Botad districts will continue till September 10.

“Due to a deep depression over North Gujarat and Rajasthan, extremely heavy rain along with thunder and strong surface wind is expected to continue in Banaskantha and Kutch till September 10, while the districts are likely to receive moderate rains on September 11 and 12. Vadodara, Ahmedabad, and Mahisagar are likely to receive moderate to heavy rain with strong wind for the next two days. Surat, Tapi and Brauch will get heavy rains and Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Gir Somnath and Amreli will get moderate rains over the next two days,” said Ashok Kumar Das, the head of the Meteorological Department, Gujarat.