Heavy rains: Gujarat on alert, Maharashtra situation improves

The Gujarat government has instructed its disaster management wing and all district administrations to remain on alert for the next 48 hours following a forecast of heavy rains, officials said on Sunday.

The instructions were issued at a review meeting called by Chief Minister Narendra Modi to assess the situation following heavy rains in the state over the past three days.

More than 25,000 people have been evacuated from low-lying areas in south and central Gujarat, which have been affected the most by heavy rains.

Modi made a district-wise assessment of the situation in Surat, Valsad, Navsari, Vadodara and Anand districts in south and central Gujarat.

There were 10 deaths in the state in rain-related incidents in the past three days, while a total of 44 people have died during this monsoon from the beginning of July, officials said.

Traffic has been disrupted on 147 major and minor roads that were innundated by flood waters. However, officials said that these roads would be cleared in a few hours as the waters would subside automatically.

Some villages of Anand district have been without power following heavy rains on Saturday night. Officials have assured the chief minister that the supply of power would be restored by Sunday night.

Meanwhile, with the intensity of rains lessening since Saturday and reduced discharge from dams in western Maharashtra, the situation in flood-hit districts of Pune, Kolhapur, Satara and Sangli has begun to improve, officials said on Sunday.

Many low-lying areas in these districts had been inundated following heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of rivers and dams, compelling the local administration to alert people living near the river beds and seek the army's help to carry out rescue and relief operations.

Although the army was not deployed in Pune, the troops helped in operations in the other three districts.

In Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal limit of Pune district some 175 families were shifted, while 295 families were taken to safer places from the Pune Municipal Corporation limits, Pune Resident Deputy Collector Suhas Divse said.