Heavy rains in Gujarat: Many areas under knee-deep inundation in Navsari

Heavy rains lashed several parts of Gujarat in the last 24 hours and many areas in Navsari went under knee-deep water as some rivers in the district were in spate, officials said on Thursday. Authorities rescued 45 people stranded in Tapi and Vadodara districts in the early hours of Thursday, a state government release said. Heavy showers have been lashing many parts of the state since the last four days.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy rains during the day at several places across Gujarat, including north and south parts of the state and the Saurashtra region. Vansda taluka in south Gujarat's Navsari district received a whopping 394 mm rainfall in the last 24-hour period ending at 8 am of Thursday, a release from the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) said.

Kaprada and Dharampur taluka in Valsad district received 377 mm and 340 mm rains, respectively, during the same time period. Dharampur taluka in Valsad district and Ranavav in Porbandar received 99 mm and 58 mm downpour, respectively, in just two hours from 6 am on Thursday, the SEOC said.

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Due to incessant rains and rising levels of the Purna and Ambika rivers, many areas in Navsari city, Bilimora town and other parts of the district were under knee-deep inundation, officials said. Navsari Collector Amit Yadav in a Twitter post asked commuters to avoid Chikhli-Valsad stretch of the Ahmedabad-Mumbai highway as it was water-logged.

In Dolvan taluka of Tapi, fire brigade personnel rescued 10 people stranded in a village facing a flood-like situation, a government release said. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) shifted to safer places 35 people, including 18 children and two patients, who were stuck at Kandari village in Karjan taluka of Vadodara, it added.

In the 24-hour period till 8 am on Thursday, Pardi taluka of Valsad received 286 mm rain, Subir taluka in Dang- 270 mm, Vapi in Valsad-260 mm, Waghai in Dang -247 mm, Khergam in Navsari- 229 mm and Dolvan in Tapi recorded 226 mm downpour. Sutrapada, Kodinar and Gir Gadhda talukas in Gir Somnath district received over 100 mm rains in the same period, the SEOC said.

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