Surat: Relentless rain battered South Gujarat on Tuesday, flooding homes, submerging roads and forcing authorities to shut dozens of routes as rivers and creeks swelled. With water levels rising rapidly, schools, colleges and train services faced widespread disruption.Heavy rainfall across South Gujarat inundated low-lying areas and forced authorities to close roads after rivers and creeks overflowed in multiple locations. Water entered homes in several towns, while waterlogged roads slowed urban traffic.A major incident was reported from Tiskari Talat village in Dharampur taluka of Valsad district, where a 42-year-old school van driver, Ajay alias Sandeep Gavitm went missing after being swept away while carrying an 11-year-old schoolgirl across a flooded bridge.
Officials said Gavit had reached the girl’s home at around 9.50am to pick her up for school. As water was flowing over the low-level bridge, he parked his van near the crossing and walked to the house.While returning with the child on his back, both were swept away into the creek. A villager, One Balu Chaudhary, jumped into the water and rescued the girl. Gavit, however, was carried away. Police and fire brigade teams launched a search operation.In Sanjan town of Umargam taluka, police carried out rescue operations after floodwater entered residential areas late on Monday night. Residents woke up to find water inside their homes and were unable to move out safely. Police evacuated families to safer locations.In another incident, two cars were swept away from a low-level bridge in Borlai village of Umargam after water surged over the crossing. The vehicle occupants got out in time.In Surat, the education department declared a holiday for schools, as did Veer Narmad South Gujarat University.The Madhuban dam on the Damanganga river recorded a water level of 72.25m, above its rule level of 72m. Inflow was reported at 75,779 cusecs, while outflow stood at 47,013 cusecs on Tuesday.Under a red alert, Navsari and Tapi districts received extremely heavy rain. Navsari taluka recorded the highest rainfall at 262mm, followed by Jalalpore at 197mm, Gandevi at 129mm, Chikhli at 127mm and Vansda at 87mm. In Tapi district, Dolvan received 157mm and Valod 131mm. In Navsari town, several roads were submerged.The Purna river touched the danger mark of 23 feet by 6pm, while the Ambika river rose to 22.40 feet against a danger mark of 28 feet.
The roads and buildings department closed 89 roads in Navsari district and 33 in Tapi district due to overtopping, waterlogging and damage. The Bardipada-Dhoka causeway also suffered damage.Other high rainfall figures included 191mm in Bardoli, 173mm in Ambika, 140mm in Subir, 127mm in Kaprada, 108mm in Nanapondha, 102mm in Pardi and 95mm in Dharampur.Rail traffic towards Mumbai was suspended after water levels reached the girder bottom at Bridge 428 on the Sachin-Bhestan section. Railway officials said several trains from Ahmedabad and Vadodara are likely to be regulated. Services towards Gujarat may also face delays due to heavy rain around Vasai.
