As many as 10,000 people from rural and urban areas were shifted to safer places after the Sabarmati river crossed the danger limit. (Express Photo by Satish Jha)
Heavy rains caused severe water-logging in parts of Ahmedabad and disrupted normal life in Gujarat. The Indian Navy continued its rescue and relief operations in Jamnagar. An aerial survey of Banas river in Banaskantha district of Gujarat is being conducted to locate survivors/bodies and to assess the damage.
As many as 10,000 people from rural and urban areas were shifted to safer places after the Sabarmati river crossed the danger limit. According to a PTI report, officials said that the death toll has reached 123 till Wednesday.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani toured the inundated areas of Nikol in East Ahmedabad on a boat. He announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to each of the next of kin of those killed in the ongoing floods in the state. The Ahmedabad airport was also flooded Thursday morning, with its runway sustaining damaged.
Principal Secretary (Revenue) Pankaj Kumar tweeted: “11,032 people had been shifted in Sabarkantha, Mehsana, Mahisagar, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Panchmahal, Aravalli, Kheda and Anand districts as a precautionary measure.”
Bhupendrasinh Chudasma, revenue minister said, “We have done everything possible. We are extremely saddened by this tragedy and will do everything possible to reach out to the surviving family members in the village of Banaskantha district. On Tuesday we had rescued 700 people from Kankrej taluka and till Wednesday evening we have rescued an additional 459 persons.”
Pankaj Kumar said, “There has been an unprecedented inflow of water due to heavy rains in Rel, Sipu and Banas rivers of North Gujarat… Going by the past experience where we have recovered bodies from Banas river, we will conducting an aerial survey of the entire Banas river that will span from Deesa till the mouth of the river (that opens in Little Rann of Kutch). If we find bodies, we will tagging them using the GPS system and further action will be initiated.”