Central Gujarat faces flood fury

22 Sep 2007,
AHMEDABAD: Gujarat faced a fresh threat of floods in its central areas on Saturday with the Mahi river waters rising alarmingly even as Surat residents began coming out of their homes after remaining marooned for days.
The Mahi waters have posed danger to more than 616 central Gujarat villages with 1.5 million cusecs of water being released from the Kadana and Vanakbori dams.
The state administration called in the Indian Army on Friday for rescue and relief operations in central Gujarat. More than 30,000 people have been evacuated in rural areas.
"We evacuated 15,000 people in the Kheda-Nadiad region and 11 villages still face the danger of floods," said Kheda district collector R.R. Varsani. Villages in Vadodara and Anand districts situated on the Mahi riverbanks are threatened with flooding. Traffic on the Ahmedabad-Vadodara expressway as well as on National Highway No. 8 was normal, said Varsani. Meanwhile, in Surat the receding floodwaters have left mud on the walls of homes and other buildings in the south Gujarat city even as people were rushing Saturday morning towards the submerged areas of Adajan and Rander to see their relatives.
Former municipal commissioner of Surat, S.R. Rao, who successfully tackled the situation after a plague 13 years ago, has been given the charge of administration there, instilling much hope among people. People have begun coming out of their homes. They are complaining about not getting relief when they were left stranded during the floods.
"Helicopters used to drop food packets, but many of them fell in the water and we could not get hold of them," said Sabiha Sheikh. According to official sources, 25 dead bodies have been recovered from Surat so far. Authorities say that after the waters recede from Adajan and Rander, which are still reeling under floods, more deaths could be expected.
Following heavy rains in south Rajasthan and north Gujarat, the water level on Dharoi dam on the Sabarmati river reached above the danger mark and 100,000 cusecs of water was released on Friday night.
The water released from Dharoi caused a swamp in Sabarmati and an alert was sounded in the low-lying areas of Mehsana, Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad districts. Slum dwellers in the river belt in Ahmedabad were shifted to safer areas by the corporation authorities.

Flood alert in S Gujarat

22 Sep 2007,
GANDHINAGAR/SURAT: In view of continuing rains and rising water level of rivers and dams in South Gujarat, the state government has alerted district collectors of Navsari, Valsad, Surat, Bharuch and Narmada to be in readiness to deal with rescue and relief work.
The forecast of heavy rains over South Gujarat in next 48 hours is worrying the state government. Revenue minister Kaushik Patel said the SRP has been kept in readiness at Surat and Valsad to rush to the floodaffected areas. If need be, he said, the government would take the Army's help to deal with the situation.
Patel and other senior ministers � Ashok Bhatt, Bhupendrasinh Chudasma and Amit Shah � held a meeting in the control room of the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority where they reviewed the flood situation with top revenue and police officials.
About 6,500 people have been evacuated from Surat and other talukas of the district. Trained SRP jawans, fire-brigade personnel and volunteers of GSDMA have been deployed for the rescue work, mainly Bardoli and Olpad, Surat district collector Vatsala Vasudev said.
Meanwhile, in Navsari, the district authorities have evacuated people residing in low-lying areas around Purna river which is in spate. A message received at the control room here said that more than 3,000 people have been shifted.
The rains have continued unabated in the affected areas. Songadh taluka has received a record rainfall of 53 cm in the last 24 hours followed by 38 cm in Dharampur. Navsari, Vansda, Dangs, Pardi, Jalalpore, Mahuva, Bardoli and Olpad have recorded heavy rains.

Gujarat withdraws flood alert

24 Sep 2007,
AHMEDABAD: The intense low pressure, which had developed over Gujarat causing heavy rainfall for last few days, moved in a north-easterly direction on Saturday prompting authorities to withdraw the high alert they had issued on Friday.
"The state-wide warning issued on Friday in wake of the heavy downpour in most parts of Gujarat has been withdrawn after the low pressure developed over the state has drifted away from the state on Saturday," Meteorological department sources said.
Meanwhile, the toll in the torrential rainfall reached to 19 while more than 6,000 people living in low-lying areas in various districts have been shifted to safer places.
Even though the rains subsided, about 104 reservoirs are still on high alert as Narmada River was flowing at 113 meters at Sardar Sarovar, three meters above the danger mark.
Vishwamitri River at Ajwa reservoir on the outskirts of Vadodara city had reached the danger mark of 65 metres while Mahi is also inching close to the danger mark of 127 meters. However, Tapti in Surat and Damanganga in south Gujarat are flowing below the danger mark