Parts of Gujarat received heavy to torrential rains in the last 24 hours, which affected the normal life, especially in Botad district, where 40 persons were shifted to safety while five others went missing as their car got swept away in a swollen river, officials said on Tuesday.
Bhavnagar was also one of the worst affected districts, they said, adding that more downpour is likely over the next four day in parts of the state.
Heavy rains resulted in water-logging in low-lying areas as well as closure of some roads and causeways, the officials said.
Talking to reporters, Botad District Collector Jincy Roy said, "Forty persons living in low-lying areas in Barvala taluka have been shifted to safer places as a precautionary measure since a nearby dam was about to overflow."
In view of the present situation, all the government as well as private schools in Botad district will remain shut on Wednesday, an order issued by the District Education Officer said.
Roy said efforts were on to trace the five persons who went missing after the car they were travelling in, got swept away in a raging river in Lathidad village following heavy rains.
"There were a total of nine passengers in the car, of whom two were immediately rescued by locals while seven others went missing. The bodies of two passengers were recovered while efforts are on to locate five others. We have requested the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to join the rescue work," she said.
According to her, at least a dozen persons were stranded at a village in Gadhada taluka due to waterlogging and efforts are on to rescue them too.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said "extremely heavy rainfall" occurred at isolated places in Botad, Bhavnagar and Amreli districts, while "very heavy to heavy" rainfall occurred in other districts, such as Surendranagar, Rajkot, Morbi, Ahmedabad, Anand, Bharuch and Surat in the last 24 hours.
It said the southwest monsoon has further advanced over some more parts of North Arabian Sea and Gujarat and more rains are likely in the coming days due to the "low pressure area over Gujarat region and neighbourhood with the associated upper air cyclonic circulation", an IMD release said.
It said "heavy to very heavy rain" would occur in several parts of Gujarat, including Dahod, Valsad, Porbandar, Junagadh, Bhavnagar, Gir Somnath, Surat, Navsari, Bharuch and Dang during the next four days.
As per the figures shared by State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC), Barwala taluka of Botad district received 178 mm of rainfall, the highest in Gujarat, during the last 12 hours, ending at 6:00 pm on Tuesday.
It was followed by 160 mm in Sayla taluka of Surendranagar, 138 mm in Botad taluka, 135 mm in Muli taluka of Surendranagar, 121 Thangadh mm in Thangadh taluka of Surendranagar, 121 mm in Umrala taluka of Bhavnagar, 115 mm in Vallabhipur taluka of Bhavnagar and 111 mm in Jodiya taluka of Jamnagar.
In a release, NDRF said it has deployed one team each in Kutch, Bhavnagar and Botad districts for carrying out rescue operations.
In view of the heavy rains in various districts, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Monday night said necessary instructions have been given to the district collectors to take necessary steps to protect the lives and property of citizens.
"In view of the IMD's forecast, necessary instructions have been given to the collectors to evacuate people to safe places if need arises...Collectors have also been asked to instruct citizens to not to cross rivers and streams during heavy rains," the CM in a post on Monday night.
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