scorecardresearch
Friday, Mar 29, 2024
Advertisement

Two dead, four fishermen missing as heavy rain continues in Gujarat

Prolonged South West monsoon has left garba night organisers in a lurch with some of them cancelling the events as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted more rain till October 2.

 Gujarar rains, Gujarat weather, gujarat rain prediction, gujarat weather forecast, gujarat news, indian express A flooded cotton field in Khokhadadad village of Rajkot district, following very heavy rainfall on Sunday. (Express Photo)

At least two persons died and four fishermen went missing as heavy rain continued in Saurashtra and Kutch regions for the second consecutive day on Sunday, the first day of Navratri. Dams were overflowing, triggering fears of damage to standing crops.

Prolonged South West monsoon has left garba night organisers in a lurch with some of them cancelling the events as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted more rain till October 2.

Four persons were washed away in a flooded Rasnal river near Rampar village in Jamkandorana taluka of Rajkot district early on Sunday when their car was stranded on a causeway across the river. Bhupat Markana swam to safety after managing to get down from the car, while his wife Sharmila Markana and relatives Radha Markana (39) and Ranjan Marakana (45) were trapped inside the car, which was swept off the causeway, Rajkot district administration officials said.

Advertisement

“The victims are residents of Khad-Vanthali village in Gondal taluka of Rajkot district and were on their way to Jasapar village in Jamkandorana taluka to attend a wedding. Engine of their car turned off while they were crossing the flooded causeway across Rasnal. After re-starting the engine, Bhupta, who was at the wheels, felt the flow of water was high and tried to return to the bank in reverse gear. However, he lost control and the car was washed off the causeway,” Ramnik Lunagariya, incharge mamlatdar of Jamkandorana told The Indian Express.

Fire personnel later retrieved the bodies of Radha and Ranjan, while Sharmila was reported missing till 7 pm when a rescue team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and local disaster response agencies abandoned search due to darkness.

Festive offer

Fishermen missing

Four fishermen went missing at the Navabandar coast in Gir Somnath district were yet to be traced even 24 hours later, despite a search operation carried out by the Coast Guard and Marine police.

The men went missing after their boat capsized in the Arabian Sea 18 nautical miles off the Navabandar port around 7 pm on Saturday due to bad weather. Seven fishermen were present on the boat and three were rescued by Coast Guard personnel. The missing fishermen are Sunil Babhaniya, Bhavesh Babhaniya, Kanti Babhaniya and Samat Babhaniya, all from Una Taluka under Junagadh district.

Advertisement

“A combined search operation is being carried out by the Coast Guard and Marine Police… We haven’t been able to rescue any of the four missing fishermen yet,” said Rahul Tripathi, superintendent of police, Gir Somnath.

Farmers worried

Rain that has been continuing for almost a week has farmers in Saurashtra worried. Groundnut growers in Junagadh complained that their harvested crop was damaged due the incessant rain. Heavy rain also threatens to damage crops of pearl millet, sesame seeds and pulses which are ripe for harvesting. Farmers said cotton crop also has been damaged.

A total of 190 talukas out of 251 received rainfall in from 6 am to 6 pm on Sunday. With a total of 1,088 mm rainfall, Gujarat already recorded 133.36 per cent average rainfall this monsoon.

In Saurashtra, Bhadar, Bhadar-I, Khodiyar and Machhu-II dams were overflowing while water level in Shetrunji, the largest dam of the region, rose to 30.15 feet. The full reservoir level of Shetrunji is 34 feet.

Advertisement

As per the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) data, during this 12-hour period, districts of Saurashtra, including Devbhhomi Dwarka, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Morbi and Porbandar received heavy rainfall. Among these, the top three talukas that received the highest rainfall were from Devbhoomi Dwarka — Bhanvad taluka 199 mm, Kalyanpur 142 mm and Khambhalia 139 mm.

Lodika and Jamkandorna in Rajkot district recorded 115 mm and 104 mm rainfall,

respectively. The other taluka that recorded a rainfall of above 100 mm till 6 pm Sunday was Jamjodhpur in Jamnagar district that received 103 mm rainfall.

Low pressure area

The IMD has attributed the widespread rainfall to a “well-marked low pressure area over the Gulf of Kutch and neighbouring areas along with the associated cyclonic circulation extending up to 7.6 km above mean sea level”.

Advertisement

The weather department forecast issued Sunday evening further said, “It (cyclonic circulation) is likely to move east northeastwards and concentrate into a depression over North Gujarat during the next 24 hours (by Monday evening).”

As per the forecast for Monday, this will result in “very heavy rain in the districts of North Gujarat, including Patan, Banaskantha, Mehsana; Saurashtra districts of Rajkot, Porbandar, Morbi and Devbhoomi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Junagadh and Kutch. Heavy rain is very likely in Sabarkantha, Gandhinagar, Kheda, Ahmedabad, Anand, Surendranagar, Amreli, Gir Somnath and in Diu”.

On Tuesday, heavy rainfall is expected in Aravalli, Patan, Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Gandhinagar, Kheda, Ahmedabad, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Surendranagar and Botad. On October 2, Kheda, Panchmahal, Dahod and Mahisagar are expected to receive heavy rain.

“Winds will blow at a speed of 40-50 kmph from south-easterly to southerly direction over north Gujarat coast and from southerly to south-westerly direction over south Gujarat coast and the sea will remain rough,” the forecast added.

Advertisement

The IMD also issued a warning for fishermen saying, “Sea will be rough to very rough with waves from southeasterly to southerly direction over North Gujarat coast and from southerly to southwesterly direction over south Gujarat coast from September 29 to 30. Fishermen are advised not to venture along and off Gujarat coasts from September 29 to to 30.”

First uploaded on: 30-09-2019 at 03:43 IST
Latest Comment
Post Comment
Read Comments
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
close