Around 10,300 people were shifted in Banaskantha district while 9,790 were taken to safer locations+ in Patan. Some 2,800 were shifted in Ahmedabad as a precautionary measure. The situation was particularly grim in Dhanera, Deesa and Tharad towns where rain waters flooded houses and drowned vehicles parked on the roads. Dhanera alone got 235 mm rainfall in just six hours. All gates of Dantiwada, Sukhbhadar and Sipu dams were opened after massive influx of water.Heavy rains in adjoining Rajasthan worsened the situation in the region and water released from Dantiwada and Dharoi dams started inundating several villages in the region. With more heavy rains forecast, six additional teams of NDRF were called in from Pune to augment the efforts of 14 teams that are already deployed across the state. Two IAF helicopters were also pressed into service in Banaskantha to rescue stranded families. However, continuous rainfall and strong winds hampered the relief operations and one carrying food packets and other material to Dhanera had to return to Deesa.
Chief minister Vijay Rupani and revenue minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama also rushed to Deesa to oversee the rescue and relief operations+ . “The problem has been compounded by heavy rains in neighbouring Rajasthan, which led to surge in water levels of rivers and dams in Gujarat,” said Rupani.
In the evening, the training wall of Sipu dam in Banaskantha was damaged but irrigation department officials said there was no threat to the dam.
ll schools and colleges in Banaskantha, Mehsana, Aravalli and Patan will remain closed on July 25 due to forecast of heavy rain. Also, the Ahmedabad-Rajkothighway was closed for traffic after flood waters started flowing on the lowlevel bridge near Bagodara. In Patan, rain waters flooded hundreds of houses in Santalpur taluka as several low-lying areas were in waist-deep waters. In Mehsana town, most roads and internal lanes were in knee-deep water due to continuous rainfall.
