Gujarat: NDRF personnel rescue over 150 people from Aravalli district

Sep 18, 2023

Aravalli (Gujarat) [India], September 18 : The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams on Monday rescued as many as 157 people, stranded in low-lying areas in Gujarat's Aravalli district following heavy rainfall in the region.
The NDRF shifted the people of Lakeshwari village to safter places.  
Taking to social media platfrom, X, Gujarat government's Directorate of Information, said, "157 people trapped in water in Lakeshwari village of Baid taluka were shifted to a safe place."
Earlier in the day, state Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said that approximately 11,900 people from low-lying areas of districts including Vadodara, Bharuch, Narmada, Dahod, Panchmahal, Anand and Gandhinagar have shifted to safe shelters, where their food and health-related services are also being taken care of. 
The chief minister said that he is in coordination with the collectors of the respective districts affected by heavy rains and presently 10 contingents of both NDRF and SDRF have are deployed in rescue operations at various places.
Over 270 civilians have been successfully rescued and work of removing fallen trees on the roads has begun to restore vehicular movement quickly, Patel said.
Water levels were hovering, over 40 feet, nearly 12 feet above the danger mark of 28 feet, on Bridge No. 502 between Bharuch - Ankleshwar on the River Narmada, forcing closure of the railway traffic and cancellations.
The chief minister has appealed to people in the state to follow the instructions given by the system from time to time and provide necessary support to the system.
At least 18 trains, including Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express and Shatabdi Express have been cancelled due to the floods, according to a Western Railway release.
On Saturday, as many as 23 out of 30 gates of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada dam in Kevadia Colony were opened to release 5.5 lakh cusecs of water.
Meanwhile, amid a surge in water levels in Narmada, SDRF teams were deployed in the district.
Narmada Corporation is making careful efforts to maintain the water level in the dam and continuously working to reduce the impact of floods, they said.