Several cars got damaged and multiple other vehicles were swept away due to heavy rainfall in Gujarat’s Junagadh on Saturday and Sunday. In a video posted by news agency ANI, multiple cars were seen lying around on the roads and piling up in the streets after heavy rain that lashed parts of Gujarat over the last few days. This comes amid the orange alert issued by India Meteorological Department for heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in the Junagdh for Sunday and a yellow alert for Monday.
Heavy to very heavy rains lashed several districts in Gujarat's south and Saurashtra regions on Saturday, triggering a flood-like situation in urban areas. Notably, dozens of parked cars and cattle were swept away in gushing waters after Junagadh city received 241 mm of rainfall in just 12 hours till 8 pm on Saturday.
Yesterday, two companies of NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) were deployed in Junagadh and SDRF (State Disaster Response Force) also allocated two teams, along with five fire response teams of Rajkot municipal corporation and its adjoining Gondal municipality to carry out rescue operations.
Authorities have requested people to take precautions and urged them to contact the control room in case of any untoward incident or emergency situation in Junagadh.
Meanwhile, the flood waters receded in the rain-battered Junagadh district on Sunday after torrential rains the previous day. Officials said the focus now was on restoring normalcy. So far, around 3,000 people have been shifted to safer places in the district.
The city of Junagadh recorded 241 mm rainfall in the 24-hour period ending at 6 am on Sunday, which resulted in waterlogging in many parts, leaving damaged cars piled on each other and carcasses of cattle swept away in flash floods, said officials, as reported by PTI.
Earlier on Saturday, two national highways, 10 state highways, and 300 rural roads were closed in Gujarat due to flooding, and the traffic was only resumed at many places after the water receded, said the officials.
Speaking on the matter, Junagadh Collector Anil Ranavasiya said, as quoted by PTI, "Water has receded from the city after the rains stopped. Around 200 people were rescued and 750 were shifted from low-lying areas in the city.”
He further informed that another batch of 2,220 people was shifted to safer places in rural areas adjoining the city as a proactive measure. “The effort to restore electricity was nearly completed, and food packets were being distributed to people living in shelters,” said Ranavasiya.
According to him, several teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and fire department were involved in restoring normalcy.
Authorities are now focusing on cleanliness in the city as many cranes were deputed to remove vehicles swept away and damaged due to flooding in some areas, and dewatering pumps were deployed to remove water accumulated in residential areas.