Heavy rain causes flood-like situation in parts of Gujarat; 2,000 people shifted from Narmada river bank

Ahmedabad: Heavy rainfall in parts of Gujarat on Sunday created a flood-like situation in many areas including Bharuch, where over 2,000 people from inundated areas along the Narmada river were evacuated following release of water from the Sardar Sarovar dam, officials said. Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and state agencies were involved in the rescue operations in Bharuch, they said. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy showers at isolated places in many districts till Tuesday. Since Sunday morning, Panchmahal, Rajkot, Banaskantha, Vadodara, Botad, Ahmedabad and some other districts received heavy showers, disrupting normal life and causing overflowing of several rivers and lakes. In the afternoon, the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Narmada district received over 10 lakh cusec (cubic foot per second) of water due to heavy rainfall in its catchment areas. Out of this, around 8.4 lakh cusec water was being released into the Narmada river, which caused it to swell and flooding in low-lying areas in the downstream districts of Narmada and Bharuch, officials said. The water level of the dam reached 131.58 metres at 1 pm on Sunday, as against its full reservoir level of 138.68 metres, a state government official said. As many as 2,103 people from the flooded low-lying areas along the banks of the Narmada river in Bharuch were shifted to safer places, an official from the district disaster management cell said. Bharuch, Ankleshwar and Jhagadia talukas were among the worst affected, he said, adding that in Bharuch city, the river was flowing at 27.22 feet, way above the danger mark of 24 feet, affecting areas adjoining the city. In Narmada district, 34 people from low-lying areas were shifted, another official said. The Sardar Sarovar dam is currently filled up to 77.01 per cent of its total water storage capacity, while other major dams in the state like Shetrunj, Machchhu-II, Brahmani, Khodiyar, Wanakbori and others are filled to the brim, and several were nearing their 100 per cent storage capacity, officials said. Huge amount of water was also being released from many dams, they said. According to officials from the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC, as many as 11 talukas in Surat, Panchmahal, Rajkot, Banaskantha, Botad, Vadodara, Devbhumi Dwarka and Junagadh districts received over 100 mm rainfall between 6 am and 2 pm on Sunday. While Mangrol in Surat district received 139 mm showers, Halol in Panchmahal got 136 mm downpour, Kotdasangani and Rajkot talukas in Rajkot district received 123 mm each, and Danta in Banaskantha recieved 118 mm rain, officials said. Gujarat has so far received 113.26 per cent of its annual average rainfall, according to SEOC officials. The Kutch district in the state has so far recorded 241.73 per cent rainfall, they said. The IMD has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places in many districts of Gujarat till Tuesday morning. Widespread rainfall would occur across Gujarat region during this period, it said.