Four people died as torrential rain lashed Saurashtra last week. Two children of a labourer from Madhya Pradesh drowned in a lake in the industrial area of Shapar-Veraval adjoining Rajkot. They were ragpickers and had gone to collect waste but did not return home. The bodies of Arjun Bariya (5) and his brother Ashwin (9) were found near a lake.
Two workers of the ceramic industry in Bela Rangpar village of Morbi also drowned in the lake in which they were bathing as the water level suddenly swelled. A bus of a private university was stranded in the flooded Lalpur underpass of Gondal town in Rajkot district. A team from the municipality rescued the students.
Seven labourers also had a close shave when their car got stuck in turbulent water near Lodhika in Rajkot. The car was trapped in the causeway of the Fofal river. Some of them managed to climb on the roof of the car to save their lives. Villagers came to rescue and threw ropes to bring all of them out safely.
Gir forest and parts of Junagadh district witnessed extremely heavy rain, forcing the district administration to sound an alert for people living low-lying villages in some talukas.
One person, 90 animals killed in Anand
One person and 90 animals were killed after heavy rain lashed Borsad taluka of Anand district, government sources said. A team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been sent for rescue and relief operations after the region received 12 inch rainfall.
As many as 380 people were shifted to safer places from rainfall-hit villages in Anand district by a team of the NDRF. “A total of 380 people from two villages in Borsad taluka were shifted to safer places due to flooding in low-lying areas. Rains have stopped in the area and water receded, but some 140 people have not been able to return home yet,” said a disaster management official of Anand district administration.
Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel took stock of the situation and spoke to the district officials, especially about Sisva village where the situation is stated to be grim.
Meanwhile Palsana taluka in Surat recorded 209 mm rainfall in a day, officials said. In the 24-hour period, parts of south Gujarat and Banaskantha in north Gujarat received heavy rainfall, causing flooding in many areas.
