Torrential rains cause havoc in Gujarat

AHMEDABAD: Heavy downpour for the last 24 hours has thrown life out of gear in Gujarat. Incessant rains have brought entire region to a near standstill with water logging on many major crossroads.

The worst affected areas are south and central parts of the State where eight people have been killed.

Life in Vadodara, Surat, Navsari, Valsad and Bharuch districts has been thrown totally out of gear.

Ahmedabad experienced heavy rainfall resulting in water logging in many parts. Several other parts of the state also experienced uninterrupted rainfall bringing life to a virtual standstill.

Incessant rains for over the past few days have affected rail traffic on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai route.

Officials said that the downpour was a result of a low pressure formed over the Bay of Bengal, which intensified and resulted in a depression that caused heavy rains.

"Low pressure formed over the Bay of Bengal intensified further to form a depression. The depression then crossed Orissa and got weak over Madhya Pradesh. The rains in Gujarat is a result of this depression, also the air circulation over Gujarat," said Kamaljit Ray, Director in charge, Met department, Gandhinagar.

Meteorology department said that parts of the state would receive more rain. It also forecast heavy rainfall with winds and thunderstorms across South Gujarat and Ahmedabad.

Streets in Surat remained flooded with many rivers flowing just below the danger level.

According to the state flood control authorities, 33 centers in Gujarat had four to 14 inch rain in last 24 hours.
The administration said that people from low-lying areas have been evacuated to safer places and relief operations are in place.

"The rivers of the region are flooded with water, this coupled with heavy rainfall has resulted in this situation. We have evacuated the people from the low lying areas to safer places," said RC Meena, the District Collector.

Monsoon usually hits India in the beginning of June and retreats in September, and is key to irrigating some 60 per cent of farmland besides recharging the country's water resources. But it leaves in its wake a trail of devastation, killing people, destroying homes, crops, roads, rail tracks and bridges every year.

The first edge of monsoon this year killed some 100 people, mostly in the country's flood-prone east and northeast.