Gujarat situation serious: Patil

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, who conducted an aerial survey of the flood-affected Ahmedabad and Chheda districts of Gujarat on Saturday, said the situation is grim.

"The situation is serious. There is water everywhere. Villages, roads and railway lines are all submerged," he told reporters at the airport in Ahmedabad.

Images: Derailed by the downpour

Patil said he could not visit Vadodra, the worst-hit district, due to bad weather.

"Since I could not complete the survey, Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his officials would do the survey and make a detailed assessment of the damages,"

he added.

Also see: Rains snap Mumbai-Gujarat rail links

"Once the rain fury subsides, we have to help the kin of the dead and carry on the relief work for the affected. The state government will have to begin rehabilitation of the affected people in a day or two," Patel said.

Modi, who accompanied Patil for the aerial survey, said Ranapur village in Ahmedabad district, which is otherwise a drought-prone area, received eight inches of rainfall in four hours, inundating 30 villages.

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