Heavy rains lash Saurashtra, south Gujarat; IAF chopper rescues 3 in Devbhumi Dwarka

Heavy rains lashed parts of Saurashtra and south Gujarat on Monday, leaving many villages flooded and cut off, and an Indian Air Force helicopter had to be deployed to rescue three stranded persons in Devbhumi Dwarka district, officials said.

Kalyanpur taluka in Devbhumi Dwarka district received 281 millimetres of rain in a 12-hour period ending at 6pm, the State Emergency Operation Centre said. "Due to flooding, eight persons stranded in Keshavpura and Tankaria villages in Kalyanpur were rescued by teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) deployed in the region. Three others in Paneli village were stranded in such a manner that an NDRF team could not reach them," Devbhumi Dwarka collector GT Pandya said.

"With the effort of the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), Revenue Department and State Relief Commissioner, an Indian Air Force chopper was deployed, which rescued them and took them to Jamnagar Air Force station. An ambulance with the deputy mamlatdar was sent to bring them to Devbhumi Dwarka. They will be taken to the hospital at Khambhaliya for check up," Pandya said in a video statement.

Out of the 15 dams in the district, eight were overflowing and three others were 70 percent full, causing flooding in low-lying areas and overflow of causeways, Pandya said and appealed to the people to stay away from such areas. As per information made available by SEOC, heavy rains also battered parts of Junagadh, Rajkot and Gir Somnath in Saurashtra region as well as Surat and Valsad in the state's southern part.

Manavadar taluka in Junagadh received 198 mm rainfall in a 12-hour period from 6 am, with 12 talukas receiving over 100 mm and 37 receiving more than 50 mm, it said. According to SEOC data, Gujarat has so far received 40.62 per cent of its annual rainfall. However, while Saurashtra-Kutch and south Gujarat regions have received good rainfall, the state's north and east-central districts remain deficient. In its forecast, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said 'heavy to very heavy' rains with isolated 'extremely heavy' rains are very likely in the districts of south Gujarat and Saurashtra till Friday.