Gujarat CM holds high-level meeting to assess impact of heavy rains in state

Gandhinagar (Gujarat) [India], August 26 : Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Monday held a high-level meeting at the State Emergency Operation Center in Gandhinagar to assess the impact of heavy rains in the state.
The Chief Minister reached the State Emergency Operation Center on Monday afternoon and held a video conference with the collectors, municipal commissioners and district officials of the rain-affected districts to obtain pertinent details.
During the meeting at the State Emergency Operation Center Gujarat Chief Minister urged for the safe evacuation of people from low-lying areas, he also told District Collectors and Municipal Commissioners that the government's first priority should be to avoid loss of life and livestock.
"He instructed the Collectors that special vigilance should be taken so that no one should cross or enter the river channels or roads when the rainwater is flowing in large quantities and dangerously and if necessary with the help of the police to stop the people with strictness,' as per a press release.
He also instructed to give priority to the matter of rescuing people trapped in water. He also got the details of evacuation operations.
"So far 17,827 people have been evacuated and 1,653 people have been rescued in the state. 13 teams of NDRF and 22 teams of SDRF have been deployed in the affected districts, which are helping in rescue and relief operations," as per the release.
CM Patel also got the details about the heavy and widespread rainfall in the state in the last 24 hours. According to that, it has rained in 244 talukas of 33 districts in the entire state. An average of 63.36 mm of rain has fallen in this period.
The highest rainfall in these 24 hours was 356 mm in Khergam of Navsari district. On Monday, August 26, between 6 am and 12 pm, Morwa Hadaf of Panchmahal received the highest rainfall of 157 mm. It has rained. The average rainfall of the season this year has been 91.88 per cent across Gujarat.
Chief Minister Patel also got the details of the water condition in rivers and reservoirs as a result of this rain in the state.
"According to TAD, out of 206 reservoirs in the state, 59 reservoirs are 100 per cent full. 72 reservoirs are on high alert, 22 are on alert, 9 are under flood warning and 7 rivers have overflowed. Sardar Sarovar Dam holds 88.74 per cent of total storage capacity i.e. 2,96,459 million cubic feet (MCFT) of water," the release stated.
The Chief Minister has given instructions to the concerned system operators and senior officials to restore the situation by working on a war footing even if the power supply, roads or the supply of essential items have been affected due to rain.
Power supply of 7009 villages was affected across the state, out of which 6977 villages have been restored and power supply has started. Not only that, 5961 out of 6090 power poles have been repaired.
"The Chief Minister also gave instructions to take preventive measures to prevent epidemics immediately after the rain stops, to carry out cleaning operations by removing pesticide spills, soil, and sediment and to remove obstructions on the road to make the roads suitable for vehicular traffic," as per the release.
In the state, a total of 523 roads are closed in Surat Navsari Valsad Tapi Dang and Chotaudepur districts.
Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel also received details regarding the forecast of heavy rains in the state by the Meteorological Department.
Meteorological department officials have predicted widespread and heavy rains in the state for the next two to three days and gave details of a red alert.
Accordingly, the Chief Minister instructed the Collectors of these districts to be on alert following the possibility of heavy rain in the Kutch and Saurashtra areas.
Chief Minister also instructed Collectors of Navsari, Valsad, Dang, Panchmahal Vadodara and Chhota Udepur to be on alert.
"During the conference, he interacted with the Collectors of the most affected districts and also with the Municipal Commissioner of Vadodara to review in detail the water cover of rivers, traffic regulation and migration of people from low-lying areas in their districts," the release stated.
Chief Minister Patel has instructed the respective district in-charge secretaries to immediately reach the district headquarters assigned to them to guide the local district system in the event of heavy rain.
Gujarat CM directed the District Collectors and administrations of the entire state to be alert by adopting a zero-casualty approach with full preparedness.
Chief Secretary Rajkumar along with Senior Secretaries of State Government Departments NDRF Meteorological Department officials were also present in the meeting.
Amid heavy rainfall over the past two days, parts of Gujarat have been inundated, displacing hundreds of affected residents. Navsari, in particular, faced severe flooding, prompting the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to issue a "red alert" for the district on Monday.
"Very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall likely over Gujarat State during next 2- 3 days," IMD said on Monday.