South Gujarat pounded; Umargam lashed by 200mm rainfall in two hours

SURAT: Umargam in Valsad district was pounded with nearly 200 mm rainfall in just two hours on Sunday as heavy rain threw normal life out of gear in south Gujarat.
Umargam received maximum rainfall of over 225 in 12 hours till 6pm on Sunday. The taluka received 200 mm inches of rainfall in just two hours between 6am and 8am.
Industrial town of Vapi too was lashed with nearly 225 mm rain during the same period followed by 150 mm in Navsari’s Jalalpore taluka and Valsad each.
Among other areas, Gandevi, Khergam and Chikhli talukas in Navsari and Kamrej and Bardoli in Surat district also heavily drenched.
Lives in Valsad and Navsari towns were thrown out of gear as water entered houses and shops of people living in several low-lying areas. Locals said that even after rain stopped later in the afternoon waters did not recede and questioned the preparedness of the civic bodies.
“There was one foot water in our house and since it did not recede, we were forced to move the furniture to a height and remove water using buckets,” said a resident of Umargam.
Due to incessant downpour, many underpasses became inaccessible. Yet some commuters who tried wading through the water on the vehicles were rescued from gushing waters of a creek near Sarigam underpass by firemen.
“Our team rescued a truck driver, four motorcyclists, a car driver who were stuck in the gushing waters,” said a fireman. He added that one biker is still missing and a rescue operation was underway to find him. During the search, a couple of bikes which were dragged away were recovered.
Stray incidents of falling of trees were also reported on Dharampur road bringing traffic to a standstill.
Surat city, on the other hand, received rainfall throughout the night and later in the afternoon giving a much-needed relief to citizens from heat and humidity.
More rain forecast
India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned fishermen to not venture out into the Arabian Sea along the north and south Gujarat coasts till July 21 owing to ‘active monsoon conditions’ and with wind speed too likely to reach 60 km per hour. IMD officials also said that the heavy rainfall on Sunday was due to a cyclonic circulation lying over south Gujarat and neighbouring regions. It has predicted heavy rainfall in parts of the state till Tuesday morning.
Birds rescued from an uprooted tree
Sunday’s heavy rains uprooted a huge tree in Navsari district rendering 40 birds, shelterless. On receiving information about it, volunteers of Nature Club Surat rescued these birds and brought them to their centre to support and treat them. The birds include sub-adult and baby open bill storks and baby pond herons.