Gujarat: 9,600 People Shifted To Safety After Heavy Rain Overflows Narmada, IMD Predicts Extreme Rainfall Till Tuesday

The heavy rains unleashed flooding of low-lying areas and cut off some villages in many parts of Gujarat on Sunday as Narmada and other rivers continued to flow at full pace, following which 9,600 people were taken into safety and 207 others rescued in five districts.

 Ahmedabad was flooded with 76 mm of rainfall in 12 hours and ended at 6 pm on Sunday, some areas were engulfed by a flood that caused daily life to be interrupted. As a precautionary measure, authorities closed down the underpass for traffic.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for Panchmahal, Dahod, Kheda, Aravalli, Mahisagar, Banaskantha and Sabarkantha districts predicting isolated extremely heavy rainfall till Tuesday morning. They issued an orange alert for the entire region of Gujarat along with Saurashtra and Kutch.

It has also warned of isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall in Gujarat in its forecast till Thursday morning.

Heavy rain causing floods in Gujarat

According to the PTI report, the release of massive amounts of water from Sardar Sarovar dam (SSD), which touched its full reservoir level of 138.68 metres on Sunday morning, in the Narmada river due to heavy rains in the catchment areas in Madhya Pradesh caused massive flooding in low-lying areas in Narmada district.

A total of 9,613 people hit by floods were shifted to safer locations while 207 others were rescued in Narmada, Bharuch, Vadodara, Dahod and Panchmahal districts, officials said. 

Among them, a majority of 5,744 people were relocated in Bharuch, followed by 2,317 in Narmada, 1,462 in Vadodara, 20 in Dahod, and 70 in Panchmahal, they said.

Those shifted to safer places include people from 28 affected villages and those located near the world's tallest monument the Statue of Unity in Narmada district, officials said.

As the Narmada river is in spate after the heavy discharge of water from the dam, parts of Vadodara and Bharuch districts near the river banks were flooded, they said, adding that the situation is being monitored closely to ensure the safety of the affected people.

Apart from Narmada, rain-fed rivers such as Orsang, Heran, Mahi, Meshri and Panam are swollen due to heavy rain coupled with the release of water from various dams, resulting in the inundation of low-lying villages.

Narmada collector Shweta Teotia said rescue efforts were underway and the administration is keeping close tabs on the situation caused by the release of water from the (Sardar Sarovar) dam.

Mumbai-Ahmedabad train traffic hit due to Narmada water level

Since Sunday night, when the Narmada River crossed the danger line between Bandra and Ankleshwar stations in Gujarat. The Western Railway told media on Monday that train services from Mumbai to Ahmedabad have been suspended for almost 11 hours.

The train traffic between Bharuch and Ankleshwar stations in the Vadodara division on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route stopped after Narmada river waters surged above the danger mark at brigade no. 502 at around 11:50 pm on Sunday, Western Railway's Chief PRO Sumit Thakur told PTI.

He said the river water level is still above the danger mark though it has started receding. "All the passenger and goods trains on both ends of the river have been held up due to the flood. Arrangements are being made to provide refreshments, tea, and water to the passengers stranded on trains," he added. 

According to our estimates, the water level may fall below the danger mark after a couple of hours, Thakur said. "Helpline numbers have been set up to assist passengers to get train-related information," he added.

At least one-and-a-half dozen trains, including Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express and Shatabdi Express, have been cancelled due to the flood, a Western Railway release said.

What steps did CM Bhupendra Patel take?

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel carried out an aerial survey of the region. Patel was at Ekta Nagar in Narmada district on Sunday morning to offer prayers to the river after the SSD touched the full reservoir level of 138.68 metres.

The government has deployed two teams of NDRF in Narmada, and one each in Bharuch, Rajkot, Junagadh and Vadodara, officials said. This is in addition to three teams each of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) being deployed in Narmada and Vadodara and one each SDRF team in Dahod, Bharuch and Banaskantha to carry out relief and rescue operations. Two teams of Army are on standby in Vadodara, reportedly.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel and local rescue teams evacuated people stranded in flooded areas, including around 70 students of a residential school in Narmada district, and around 100 labourers trapped under a bridge near a river in Panchmahal district.

Some patients stranded in a hospital in Vasantpara village in Narmada district were also rescued by an NDRF team.

 A Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL) official said in the evening that the water level of the dam eased below its full reservoir level of 138.68 metres with the inflow of water gradually coming down.

As the water released in the river was reduced, it was likely to ease the flooding situation along the river bank, according to the official.