Flood fury continues in Gujarat and Rajasthan, hundreds marooned

NEW DELHI: Hundreds of people were marooned in several inundated regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan on Tuesday even as heavy rains in other parts of the country flooded streets, choked traffic and hit normal life. Prime Minister Narendra Modi carried out an aerial survey of the worst-hit Banaskantha and Patan districts in his home state where Army, IAF, NDRF and local teams have intensified rescue and relief operations. The prime minister also and chaired a meeting with Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Patel and top officials of the state government to take stock of the situation. During the last 24 hours, at least 12 talukas of Banaskantha, Patan and Sabarkantha districts received over 200 mm of rainfall, a release issued by the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) said. Dantiwada in Banaskantha remained the worst-hit recording 463 mm rainfall, followed by Palanpur (380 mm), Vadgam (357 mm), Amirgadh (337 mm) and Lakhani (305 mm). More than 1,000 people have been rescued and 46,000 people shifted to safer locations from low lying areas of the state, deputy chief minister Nitin Patel said. In Rajasthan, rescue operations are being carried out in flood-hit Jalore, Sirohi and Pali districts. Nineteen people were rescued from Jalore including seven who had taken shelter on a tree to escape the swirling waters. Odisha is also bracing for floods with three of the state's major rivers flowing above the danger mark. Heavy rainfall is likely to pound several parts of the state due the low pressure area persisting over in the region. Authorities in Keonjhar, Bhadrak and Jajpur districts have stepped up their preparedness for rescue-and-relief operations while the situation in Balasore district is also being monitored. The weather improved in Bengal today with no heavy rain in most parts since last night. However, low lying areas in Birbhum, Purulia, West Midnapore and Hooghly districts were still under water. Roads in state capital Kolkata continued to be waterlogged. The flood situation in Assam also improved with most rivers flowing below the danger level but the death toll rose to 77 as a person drowned in Hojai. Incessant rains disrupted normal life in several parts of Jharkhand with many rivers, including Damodar, Konar and Siwane, in spate. The district administrations of Ranchi, East Singhbhum, Hazaribagh, Bokaro and Giridih have declared a holiday tomorrow for students up to class 8 in view of incessant rains, official sources said. In Bihar, light rainfall occurred at a few places in the northern part of the state, while heavy showers were witnessed at a few places in the south west, a MeT bulletin said. The national capital too witnessed scattered rains that brought down the mercury. The maximum temperature settled at 32.5 degrees Celsius, two notches below the season's average. Dharamshala, which received 55 mm rainfall, was the wettest place in Himachal Pradesh, while moderate downpour was witnessed in several parts of the state.