Heavy rains batter Gujarat; claim 19 lives

Ahmedabad, July 30 (UNI) Heavy rains continued unabated in most parts of Gujarat for the second day today, claiming 19 lives, disrupting rail and road traffic and forcing thousands to evacuate their homes.

The authorities evacuated more than 25,000 people from low-lying areas in South and Central Gujarat to safer places following heavy rains in the region even as an alert was sounded in the villages on the banks of the Narmada river, official sources said.

Gujarat Disaster Management Authority and all districts administration have been put on high alert as the weather bureau forecasts heavy to very heavy rainfall in major parts of the state during the next 48 hours.

The instructions were issued by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi after he held a meeting at Gandhinagar to review the situation following the heavy rainfall.

According to the sources here, Mr Modi made district- wise assessment in the worst-affected districts of Surat, Valsad, Navsari, Vadodara and Anand district of south Gujarat and central Gujarat.

Vadodara district authorities declared that three more deaths were reported from rural areas due to drowning in separate incidents in the district.

Meanwhile, four more deaths were reported from north Gujarat during the last 24 hours. Of the four, one death was reported from Banaskantha district when one Divaliben Koli (52) lost her life at Kotada (Forna) village in Deodar Taluka after a tree fell on her last evening. Three deaths happened in rain-related incidents in Modasa town of Sabarkantha district.

With these seven deaths, the toll in the current monsoon spell rose to 19, while the death toll in this season mounted to 41.

The official sources said the deaths were due to drowning, lightning strikes and building collapses.

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