Saurashtra reels under wet spell; several highways closed, trains halted

RAJKOT: More than 5,700 people were shifted to safer places during night operations on Friday as rain fury continued in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. Two deaths have been reported so far - one each from Rajkot and Amreli.
The rescue operations were carried out by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in Surendranagar, Rajkot and Morbi districts.A total of 150 stranded people have been rescued so far by the NDRF teams. An MI-17V5 helicopter of the IAF stays airborne to rescue flood-affected people in Untadi village of Surendranagar district.
Services on Surendranagar-Pipavav railway line were closed as tracks were inundated due to heavy rains. Mahuva-Dhoda passenger train was stopped at Liliya railway station on Friday night.

Due to heavy rains and waterlogging, all train services were stopped at Maliya Miyana raiway station from 09.25 am.

Coastal Saurashtra reeled under heavy wet spell as torrential rains pounded Porbandar, Amreli and Gir-Somnath districts since Thursday night, forcing closure of several state highways and internal roads. There was a 4-km long traffic jam as breach in Narmada canal near Limda resulted in flooding on the national highway.
The Rajkot-Bhavnagar highway was closed following heavy waterlogging between Randhola and Limda villages near Dhasa, leaving several vehicles stranded. Vehicular movement on Porbandar-Dwarkar coastal highway was also badly hit as portions of the road were washed away at many places, sources said.

A bike was swept away near Damnagar, but the rider was rescued.
Normal life was thrown out of gear in Veraval and Sutrapada that were lashed by over 100 mm rainfall respectively in just around three hours. All the major roads and lanes in Veraval were heavily waterlogged, leaving commuters harried. People had to wade through knee-deep waters in the towns and rain water gushed into several houses.

Several roads in Amreli district were also closed following heavy rains. Some of the roads closed were Liliya-Amreli, Vadia-Kukavav, Khambha-Rajula, Khambha-Chalala and Khambha-Kundla. While Amreli town received 3.5 inches rainfall, other towns like Babra, Bagasar, Dhari, Khambha, Dhari, Liliya, Lathi, Savarkundla and Rajula also got significant rain. A state transport bus going from Gariyadhar to Savarkundla got stranded on a causeway. The bus had eight people, including the driver and conductor.
The Gariyadhar-Bhav nagar state highway was also closed after the rain waters swelled on the road near Parvadi village. Situa tion was grim in Keriya Chad vilage near Amreli was rain waters flooded nearly 200 houses. In Gir-Som nath too, Nagadiya village was flooded flooding due to swelling waters of river Shahi.