After heavy rains in Gujarat's Saurashtra, several villages marooned; over 150 roads blocked

AHMEDABAD: Even as the rain intensity reduced in parts of Saurashtra in Gujarat on Wednesday, a number of villages in the region remained cut off from the mainstream as the connecting roads were blocked due to flooding and power supply was disrupted in some areas, officials said.

As many as 157 roads remain blocked due to inundation, affecting traffic movement.

These included a national highway in Jamnagar district, 17 state highways in Rajkot, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Bhavnagar, Amreli and Surat districts, and 127 panchayat roads connecting villages, they said.

On Wednesday, heavy rains lashed many parts of Surat district in south Gujarat The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places in the state till Saturday morning.

The state transport corporation said due to the closure of 165 routes on which it operates daily buses, it will not be able to conduct 522 trips, majority of them being in Jamnagar, Junagadh and Rajkot districts, which are among the worst affected due to the heavy downpour on Sunday and Monday.

According to officials, 48 villages in Rajkot, Jamnagar and Porbandar were likely to be affected due to the outflow of a large amount of water into the rivers from three major dams in those districts.

Gujarat has so far this monsoon reason received 598.26 mm or 72.22 per cent of its annual average downpour, as per the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC).

On Tuesday, Junagadh district in Saurashtra received the highest amount of rainfall.

Its Mangrol taluka recorded 157 mm rainfall in the 24-hour period ending at 6 am on Wednesday.

Besides, Keshod taluka in the district received 126 mm rainfall, Junagadh taluka-97 mm, Vanthali-97 mm, and Malia-94 mm rainfall during the same period, as per the SEOC data.

Between 6 am and 10 am on Wednesday, many parts of Surat district received heavy rainfall, especially the talukas of Olpad (79 mm), Kamrej (42 mm), Choryasi (42 mm), and Surat city (28 mm) between 6 am and 10 am, the SEOC said.

Newly sworn-in Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Tuesday visited rain-hit parts of Jamnagar city and district and assured help to those affected by the floods.

(THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS)

946 Days ago