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Floods hit south and central Gujarat

About 150,000 people were moved to safer places from six flood-affected districts of south and central Gujarat as the Narmada and Tapti rivers swelled menacingly. The state government sounded an alert and sought the army's help in relief and rescue operations as the weather bureau forecast heavy to very heavy rains at many places in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh in the next 24 hours.

According to reports reaching Gandhinagar, at least 50,000 people were evacuated from the silk and diamond city of Surat alone. Almost 80 per cent of the city was submerged.

Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel, who was camping at Surat with Union Textiles Minister Kashiram Rana, who represents Surat in the Lok Sabha, Health Minister Ashok Bhatt, and senior officials, sent an SOS to Union Home Minister L K Advani asking for the assistance of paramilitary forces.

But the level of the Tapti continued to rise through the day. At Ukai Dam, where the danger mark was crossed by one foot yesterday, the water level was still high at 345.95 feet this morning, because of which the authorities had to release more water into the river rather than risk the safety of the weakened dam. The discharge rate from the dam was 700,000 cusecs per hour. In all, 1.7 million cusecs of water were released till this morning.

The Vivekanand Bridge in Surat was submerged and the authorities closed two other bridges. The Tapti's level at Hope Pool was 101 feet which, if it increased by just one more foot, could submerge 70 per cent of the city.

Nearly 400 factories at Ved Road were also flooded. All Hazira-based mega-industries, though not affected yet, sounded an alert. The Oil and Natural Gas Commission put up barricades to prevent ingress of water while others like Reliance, Essar, and NTPC were monitoring the situation following the release of water into the Kakrapar canal.

The authorities pressed into service one company of paramilitary forces and summoned two more. Two Indian Air Force aircraft were helping in relief and rescue operations in Surat and two more were expected. Nearly 40 relief camps were set up in the district to provide food and shelter to the affected people. No casualties were reported from anywhere.

Train services in south Gujarat were affected, but national highways passing through the area were not, and road traffic was almost normal, except at some places. Electric supply and telecommunication services were also unaffected.

Besides Surat, the other districts affected by floods were Baroda, Godhra, Bharuch and Narmada. In Ahmedabad district, heavy rains created a flood-like situation in villages around Dhandhuka and Dholka towns.

In Bharuch, 69 villages were affected by the swollen Narmada while 50 villages were marooned in the Tapti, flooded by the release of water from Burhanpur in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh.

In Bharuch district, nearly 3,500 people were moved to safer places while in Baroda and Narmada districts, the number of evacuees was 1,500 and 5,500, respectively.

The Narmada crossed the danger mark of 81.5 metres and was flowing at 92.98m at many places in Bharuch district. The Golden Bridge was submerged under more than 5 feet of water. But reports said the waters of the Narmada were likely to recede by evening today.

UNI

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