Gujarat: Flood toll reaches 7, Vadodara limps back

“As the water level of the Vishwamitri river started receding from Friday morning, the situation is slowly getting back to normal. However, several areas are still waterlogged. We are taking all efforts to improve the situation,” said Vadodara Collector Shalini Agarwal.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani who was in Rajkot for his 64th birthday celebrations met flood-affected people in Vadodara and reviewed the situation, while Deputy CM Nitin Patel visited Sir Sayajirao General hospital that was flooded during the rain. Rupani also announced Rs 4 lakh ex gratia to the kin of those killed in the floods and compensation for those who lost their belongings.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani meets flood-affected people in Vadodara. Bhupendra Rana

In a tweet, Rupani said Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephonic discussion with him about the flood situation and assured help from the Centre. “Had a detailed telephonic discussion with PM shri @narendramodi ji about the flood situation in Vadodara. Briefed him about the situation and efforts made by the state government,” Rupani said in a post.

“PM shri @narendramodi ji assured me of all the possible help and assistance from Central government to meet the relief and rehabilitation efforts. I am thankful to the PM Shri @narendramodi ji for his guidance and support,” the CM said in another tweet.

Narsinh Vala, 60, a resident of Sanjaynagar in Tulsiwadi area of Karelibaug, drowned near his house. Vala, who was trapped in a pool of water near his house late on Wednesday was rescued and moved to a government primary school along with his family. After the rain stopped on Thursday evening, he went back to his house to check the water levels and his belongings on Thursday night.

Read | 7,000 people rescued from waterlogged areas in Vadodara, Ahmedabad

When he did not return till past midnight, his family began looking for him. His body was recovered from near his house on Friday morning after the water in the area receded.

Sukhbhai Rawal, 92, drowned in his house in Tulsi slum area of Karelibaug after water from Vishwamitri river flooded the area. In another incident, in Chhatrapati road in Kalupura area of the city, Mukesh Parmar, a shop owner, fell into an open drain that was overflowing on Thursday evening. City police and fire brigade personnel were roped in for rescue operations but they are yet to trace him.

Store owners distribute food items free of cost after rain flooded their shops. (Express photo: Bhupendra Rana)

“The open drain was not visible as water was overflowing. Onlookers told us that he slipped into the drain before anybody could help him,” police said.

Between Wednesday and Thursday, five people were reported dead in separate incidents. Two people who were grievously injured after a wall collapse in Bajwa road of the city succumbed to injuries during treatment.

Three people were electrocuted in three separate incidents, including the owner of Damodardas jewelers, Mahesh Chokshi, who was electrocuted at his home while turning on the inverter. The others include a 17-year-old college student near Vadsar bridge and a 60-year-old-man identified as Mangu Solanki.

Read | Four more crocodiles rescued as water recedes in Vadodara

Harsh Purohit, a businessman who has been residing in Sayajigunj for 50 years, lashed out at the authorities on Facebook saying, “It is absolutely horrifying how the absence of a timely public alert on opening of Ajwa gates amplified the impact of the floods.” He said that the residents in the area used to manage such situations better with warning from the authorities. They would have a jeep do the rounds of the neighbourhood announcing that water is going to be released from Ajwa, he wrote on the post.

Angry residents also vandalised the Indirapuri sub-station of MGVCL as power outage continued for the third consecutive day. Residents who went to the MGVCL office to complain got into a verbal altercation with the officers and damaged the sub-station. In Karelibaug’s Ganesh Nagar, officials of the VMC were turned away by angry residents who blamed the civic body for the misery.

Workers cut the branches of a tree that fell on an AMTS bus at Vasna in Ahmedabad on Friday. (Express photo: Javed Raja)

However, Chief Secretary JN Singh in Gandhinagar defended the government action saying said the rainfall was unusual.

Other parts of the state received heavy rains between 6am and 8pm, a state government release said. Mangrol tehsil in Surat district recorded the highest rainfall of 187 millimetres on Friday, followed by Rajkot city at 144 mm, Amreli town at 120 mm, Kaprada tehsil of Valsad district at 116 mm and Gir-Gadhda tehsil of Gir-Somnath district at 105 mm. There was knee-deep water in several places in Rajkot city following a heavy downpour in the evening.

Floodwater has subsided in some parts of the city and Rupani lauded local officials as well as the people of Vadodara for showing “exceptional courage”. He announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh for the kin of those who died in rain-related incidents. Over 1.6 lakh food packets were distributed in the city over the last two days.

(With PTI)