The Hindu : Front Page : Rescue operations continue in Gujarat

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Thursday, Jul 05, 2007
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Rescue operations continue in Gujarat

Special Correspondent

— Photo: PTI

No dampener: Women walk on a make-shift bridge over a flooded street to a mosque in Ahmedabad.

GANDHINAGAR: The Army, Air Force and personnel of the National Disaster Response Force continued to rescue people trapped in flood waters in various parts of Gujarat even as 17 more people lost their lives on Wednesday.

Chief minister Narendra Modi who cut short his visit to Switzerland to return to take charge of the situation, had an aerial survey of Bhavnagar district in Saurashtra region, one of the worst-hit in the current floods. Mr. Modi also announced an increase in the compensation from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 1 lakh to the next of kin of those killed in the heavy rains and floods.

Damages

With floods receding due to a break in heavy rains in most parts of the State except Sabarkantha district in north Gujarat, damages started unfolding in the worst affected areas. Seven bodies were recovered in Jamnagar district while six more were found dead in the neighbouring Junagadh district, both in the Saurashtra region, while three more deaths were reported from Ahmedabad and the Banaskantha district in the north accounting for one more casualty.

With today’s deaths, the toll went up to 101. The State administration, however, had been kept at a state of high alerts though the weather office said the deep depression centred over the Saurashtra region was moving towards Rajasthan. While the Army remained active in Jamnagar district, a company each of the NDRF was rushed to Bhavnagar, Patan, Nadiad and Banaskantha districts to rescue those trapped.

Rain continues in Kolkata

Special Correspondent reports:

Normal life was disrupted here and in adjoining districts as heavy rain continued for the second consecutive day on Wednesday. Vast areas were submerged in murky water.

Eleven persons died over the past two days, a senior State police official said.

The administration was alive to the situation, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee told the Assembly, refuting Opposition charges that neither the Government nor the Kolkata Municipal Corporation was handling it competently. Mr. Bhattacharjee also denied allegations of food shortage in the city but said the people were inconvenienced by transport disruption. All pumping stations were operating to drain water from the streets. A control room, opened at the Secretariat, was monitoring the situation, he said.

Minister for Disaster Management Mortaza Hussain said the three adjoining districts of Howrah, South and North 24 Parganas were badly hit by water logging. Hundreds of families were affected and district authorities were instructed to rush relief materials to these areas.

Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi visited a pumping station and some water-logged parts of the city.

The Meteorological office has predicted heavy to very heavy rain over the next 48 hours. Extremely heavy rain is likely at isolated places over Gangetic West Bengal under the influence of a depression, which has formed over the coastal areas of Bangladesh, about 150 km southeast of the city.

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