The situation in Gujarat has worsened due to heavy rains. Due to heavy rains in Gujarat for the last two days, many parts are submerged and thousands of people have had to move to safer places. The Meteorological Department has warned of heavy to very heavy rains in Gujarat for the next 2-3 days. A red alert has been issued for very heavy rains in many areas of the state, especially during the next 24 hours. In view of the warning issued by the Meteorological Department, a holiday has been declared in all the primary schools of the state. State Education Minister Praful Panseria said that all the primary schools of the state will remain closed on Tuesday.
NDRF and SDRF have taken charge. 13 NDRF teams and 22 SDRF teams are deployed in the flood affected districts. NDRF has launched relief and rescue operations in Valsad. NDRF team rescued a pregnant woman in Valsad. So far 17,827 people have been evacuated from submerged areas in the state. Not only this, 1,653 people badly trapped in floods have been rescued.
State Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel held a high-level meeting in Gandhinagar on Monday to assess the impact of heavy rains. He directed the District Collectors and Municipal Commissioners that the first priority of the government should be to prevent loss of life and property. The CM said that ensure that no one crosses rivers or roads when water is flowing dangerously. Police should be deployed to strictly enforce this.
Officials said that about 4 lakh cusecs of water has been released into the Narmada river from the Sardar Sarovar Dam. This step has been taken after a huge amount of water came from the Omkareshwar Dam in Madhya Pradesh upstream of the Narmada. The dam located near Kevadia in Narmada district is receiving 3.68 lakh cusecs (cubic feet per second) of water and 3.95 lakh cusecs of water has been released into the river. Out of the 30 gates of the dam, 23 gates have been opened to a height of 2.2 meters. People in 28 villages of Nandod, Garudeshwar and Tilakwada talukas of Narmada district have been asked to avoid going near the river.