Over 25,000 people, mostly in Banaskantha, were shifted to safer places as the district and Gujarat face its worst floods in recent years. Over a 1,000 stranded people were rescued from various villages with the help of the Army, Air Force, Border Security Force, and National Disaster Response Force that rushed to disaster-prone areas.
Over 9,790 people were taken to safer locations in Patan, with some 2,800 were shifted in Ahmedabad as a precautionary measure. Situations continue to remain grim in Dhanera, Deesa, and Tharad towns that have received 235 mm rainfall in just six hours. Following massive influx of water, gates of Dantiwada, Sukhbhadar, and Sipu dams were opened. As forecast predicted heavier rains, six additional teams of NDRF were called in from Pune to help the efforts of 14 teams that are already deployed across the state.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Revenue Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama rushed to Deesa to oversee the rescue and relief operations. Rupani said, “The problem has been compounded by heavy rains in neighbouring Rajasthan, which led to surge in water levels of rivers and dams in Gujarat. Some 339 major and minor roads, including a national highway, 20 state highways and 218 village roads have been closed for traffic due to heavy flooding.
Schools and colleges in Banaskantha, Mehsana, Aravalli, and Patan remained closed all week, and the Ahmedabad-Rajkot highway was closed for traffic after food waters began to flow on the low-level bridge near Bagodara. Principal Secretary, Revenue, Pankaj Kumar said that due to heavy inflow from catchment areas, around 50,000 cusecs water was being released from Dharoi dam. “Villagers in the downstream are being evacuated as precautionary measure,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, the Indian Air Force began a massive aerial relief and rescue operation in the flood affected regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan. The Defence Ministry released a statement saying, “A total of five helicopters MI-17V5 have been pressed into service for rescue and relief operation in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Two helicopters have been launched from Deesa for rescue and relief in Banaskantha and Patan districts of Gujarat and two helicopters with medical supplies have taken off from Jodhpur Air Force Base for operations in Jalore and Pali districts of Rajasthan.”
“One more MI-17V5 helicopter carrying medicines, food packets, and National Disaster Response Force personnel will also take off for Deesa shortly. The rescue operations couldn't be conducted on July 24 following extreme weather conditions for most of the day. Finding a window of opportunity with slightly better weather conditions on Tuesday morning, IAF launched massive rescue operations,” the ministry said. Authorities have issued a state-wide “high alert” and called out rescue teams for assistance.
