- Fishermen advised not to venture along and off the north Gujarat coast till July 26 due to squally weather conditions
- The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued red, orange, and yellow alerts for various Gujarat districts till 24 July
- Considering the heavy inflow of water, 43 out of Gujarat’s 206 reservoirs are on high alert, while 18 others are on alert mode
NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, JULY 22
Gujarat is battered with heavy monsoon rains with flood-like situations in several districts in Gujarat’s south and Saurashtra regions on Saturday. In Junagadh district, heavy rains displayed their fury with cars being washed away by rivers. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued red, orange, and yellow alerts for various Gujarat districts till 24 July. ‘
Junagadh Police = Saviours
Take a bow team✌🏻 pic.twitter.com/s2jY6VpoVB
— Harsh Sanghavi (Modi ka Parivar) (@sanghaviharsh) July 22, 2023
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel chaired a high-level meeting at SEOC in Gandhinagar amid incessant rainfall, flooding.
મુખ્યમંત્રી શ્રી ભૂપેન્દ્ર પટેલે જૂનાગઢમાં ભારે વરસાદના કારણે સર્જાયેલી સ્થિતિની સમીક્ષા ગાંધીનગર ખાતેના સ્ટેટ ઇમરજન્સી ઓપરેશન સેન્ટર ખાતેથી કરી હતી.
મુખ્યમંત્રીશ્રીએ જૂનાગઢ જિલ્લા કલેકટર સાથે વિડિયો કોન્ફરન્સ કરીને પરિસ્થિતિનો તાગ મેળવ્યો હતો તેમજ લોકોના સ્થળાંતર, ફૂડ પેકેટ્સ… pic.twitter.com/trYEfw6Pxh
— CMO Gujarat (@CMOGuj) July 22, 2023
“Junagadh received heavy rainfall today…Water in large amounts has entered the city…The people are safe, however, NDRF and SDRF teams are deployed there…,” Gujarat Agriculture Minister Raghavji Patel on flood-like situation in the city said.
ધ યુનાઇટેડ નેશન્સ વૉટર કોન્ફરન્સ 2023 સ્થળ : હેતની હવેલી, દુધાળા, જિ. અમરેલી https://t.co/HZngUOceuS
— CMO Gujarat (@CMOGuj) July 22, 2023
“Due to heavy rains in Junagadh, CM Bhupendra Patel cancelled all his programs and called an emergency meeting at the collector’s office. 4 municipal teams, 25,000 food packets and NDRF teams from Rajkot district are also being sent to Junagadh for relief and rescue work,” Rajkot Collector Prabhav Joshi said.
મુખ્યમંત્રી શ્રી ભૂપેન્દ્ર પટેલે આજે માનનીય રાજ્યપાલ શ્રી આચાર્ય દેવવ્રત સાથે અમરેલી જિલ્લાના દુધાળા ખાતે ધોળકીયા ફાઉન્ડેશન દ્વારા નિર્માણ પામેલા 'હરિકૃષ્ણ સરોવર' ની મુલાકાત લીધી હતી. મુખ્યમંત્રીશ્રીએ જળસિંચનની સાથે જનસુખાકારીમાં વધારો કરતા સરોવર નિર્માણના કાર્યની પ્રશંસા કરી… pic.twitter.com/x30kcf6yU4
— CMO Gujarat (@CMOGuj) July 22, 2023
Heavy to very heavy downpours lashed several districts in Gujarat’s south and Saurashtra regions on Saturday, causing a flood-like situation in urban areas and isolating villages as water levels in dams and rivers surged to dangerous levels.
Many parts of the state were waterlogged, leading to traffic jams and commutation issues for the residents.
Navsari and Junagadh were among the worst-hit districts, experiencing deluges in residential pockets and marketplaces. Authorities urged people to take precautions, not visit dams or surrounding areas, and report any emergencies.
Junagadh city was severely affected, with parked cars and cattle swept away in gushing waters after it received 219 mm of rain in 8 hours. People were seen wading through waist-deep water to reach safer places, and some were rescued from strong currents by volunteers. Rescue teams were mobilised to shift people from low-lying areas to safer places.
Navsari district in south Gujarat also faced heavy rains that disrupted normal life, causing flooding in urban and rural areas. A father-son duo was swept away in a swollen drain in Navsari city. While the man was rescued, efforts were underway to trace the son, an official said.
Heavy showers also led to traffic jams on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad national highway near Navsari.
In another incident, a father-son duo drowned after their car got washed away near Silvassa town in Dadra and Nagar Haveli districts.
Devbhumi Dwarka, Bhavnagar, Bharuch, Surat, Tapi, Valsad, and Amreli were among the other districts receiving heavy rainfall.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued warnings of continued heavy to very heavy rainfall in south Gujarat and Saurashtra-Kutch districts till Sunday morning and over the next three days in many other districts.
Fishermen were advised not to venture along and off the north Gujarat coast from July 22 to July 26 due to squally weather conditions.
In response to the ongoing rain situation, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Forces (SDRF) have been placed on high alert. Considering the heavy inflow of water, 43 out of Gujarat’s 206 reservoirs are on high alert, while 18 others are on alert mode. The state government has issued warnings for an additional 19 reservoirs, highlighting the severity of the situation.
