AHMEDABAD: After Saturday’s spell of torrential rain across Gujarat, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a warning to fishermen along the state’s coast against venturing out to sea for the next five days. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued red, orange, and yellow alerts for various Gujarat districts till 24 July.
Rains pounded 145 talukas – mostly across Saurashtra-South Gujarat – between 6 am and 4 pm on Saturday. Twenty-two talukas saw more than an inch of rain. Navsari district, however, received the highest of 13 inches of rain. Heavy rain also lashed the Junagadh district. The Girnar Hill in Junagadh received 14 inches of rain, following which runoff from the mountain flooded the city.
Waterlogging has led to cars floating and people climbing onto roofs in many locations. The flow of water in the Kalwa River has also surged. Ravi Teja Wasam Shetty, Junagadh district police chief, appealed to the public to stay off the roads and remain safe at home.
In the Amreli district of Saurashtra region, heavy rainfall has led to water logging at the ST bus stand and Rajkot Road. Navsari, in south Gujarat, received 13 inches of rain on Saturday Heavy traffic bottleneck was also reported on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad (NH 48) in Navsari. A 16-year-old boy who travelled from Belimora with his father to give an exam was swept away in the flood-like situation in Navsari town.
As per reports, the accident occurred in the Jaishankar party plot area. However, the father was rescued by a fire services team soon after. In North Gujarat, Patan and Banaskantha districts are badly hit by rains. IMD has issued a ‘red alert’ for Valsad, Bhavnagar, Devbhoomi Dwarka, Daman, Dadra Nagar Haveli; ‘orange alert’ for Ahmedabad, Anand, Bharuch, Banaskantha, Sabarkantha, Amreli, Jamnagar, Gir Somnath, Kutch; and ‘yellow’ alert for Surendranagar, Dahod, Junagadh, Rajkot, Botad, Vadodara, Surat, Navsari.