Rain take a breather in Gujarat

The state of Gujarat, which was pounded by rain for last five days, breathed a little easy as rains subsided across most parts of the state.

“About 10 days ago we were worried for rains. Now that worry is a passe. We have received substantial rains in South Gujarat and coastal Saurashtra and now it seem to have taken a breather. The waters are receding and only one village in Una taluk remained cut off, while we have been able to reach all the other villages,” Chief Minister Vijay Rupani told reporters.

“There is also no village in the state that is now without electricity, ” he said.

Giving details of the havoc, Rupani said that 25 villages were submerged and 32 deaths have been recorded across the state.

“Fourteen of these died due to drowning, while 18 others lost their lives due to lightening, electrocution or collapse of civil structure,” he said.

Other than that, 22 NDRF teams deployed in the state have been able to rescue about 700 people from flood-affected areas.

“As many as 27,000 food packets have already been distributed and now the focus will shift on providing relief and survey work,” he said adding that revenue department has already formed 161 teams to begin survey of the loss beginning on Friday.

The state government has also formed 290 teams of health department to provide medication in the affected regions. Instructions have also been issued to begin cleanliness drive, so as to prevent an epidemic.

Though most parts of the state received less than 50 mm of rainfall, some parts in Dangs recorded rainfall up to 121 mm, while Navsari and Valsad in South Gujarat received between 50mm to 70 mm of rain in the last 12 hours.

“Till date, the rains this year have been better compared to same period last year. We hope that this would prove to be a boon for agriculture. With Met department forecasting rain for North Gujarat and Kutch district in the coming 3-4 days, we are now gearing up to meet that challenge,” the chief minister added.