Gujarat rains: CM Bhupendra Patel reviews flood-affected areas

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Wednesday reviewed the situation in five districts of the state affected by heavy rain.

A red alert has been sounded via the Chief Minister's dashboard after aerial inspection.

Patel got details of the dire situation due to heavy rains in Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Navsari, Dang and Vaslad districts from the collectors of the districts. After visiting the rain-affected Narmada, Navsari and Chhotaudepur districts yesterday, the Chief Minister assessed the rain situation in five districts via the CM dashboard.

The Chief Minister also took stock about the relocation of people living in low-lying areas in these districts to safer places and the facilities provided to them in shelters.

"On the road or causeway where water is flowing, where the lake is flooded, small dams are flooded and water is flowing on the roads, then it is necessary to close such roads and that no person or vehicle should pass from such roads and that the police force should be put up there."

The Chief Minister also instructed the district administrations of these five districts to carry out rescue and relief operations, power supply, water supply, health services as well as necessary coordination of NDRF, and SDRF teams.

He said that human life is very valuable, and hence necessary safety measures should be taken to especially minimise the loss of life as well as loss of property due to rains.

Patel urged the administrative officers of all the rain-affected districts to ensure that the people living in the shelters get adequate food and other necessary facilities. Patel also instructed to clear the roadblocks in Navsari and Dang districts by removing rainwater immediately and clearing the roads.

The Chief Minister also asked the collectors of these five districts to maintain constant coordination with the state government for any further and urgent help.

Chief Secretary S Pankaj Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister Pankaj Joshi, Relief Commissioner P. Swaroop also joined Patel during this review and interaction.

Parts of south Gujarat and Kutch-Saurashtra received very heavy showers in the last 24 hours leaving 14 people dead, while over 31,000 were evacuated so far this rainy season, officials said on Wednesday.

Three national highways in Kutch, Navsari and Dang districts were blocked due to damage caused by rains. 51 state highways and over 400 panchayat roads have also been damaged, state Disaster Management Minister Rajendra Trivedi told reporters.

( With inputs from ANI )