Rain brings south Gujarat to standstill

Surat/Bharuch: After days of blistering heat, heavy rain threw normal life out of gear in south Gujarat on Monday, keeping Surat on the edge and flooding several parts of Bharuch town and district.
Rail and road traffic was badly hit as 14 of trains were running late or cancelled by three to four hours due to water-logging on the tracks between Bharuch and Surat.
Eight units comprising of 35 personnel from National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were dispatched to rain-hit areas of Bharuch, Vadodara, Surat, Navsari and Naswadi. Government deployed additional police force on highways in south Gujarat to ensure smooth flow of traffic.
Reports of heavy discharge of water from Ukai dam due to rainfall in catchment areas triggered widespread fear in Surat as citizens kept awake the whole Monday night, anticipating a 2006 flood like situation. Vegetable vendors and milk sellers exploited the fear to the hilt raising the prices of the essential commodities.
Several low-lying areas along the bank of Tapi river were inundated and 250 people were shifted to safer locations in Pal area. Rumour mills working overtime on social networking sites and instant messaging services dishing out horror stories about 2006 devastation only added to the panic.
Even as the discharge from Ukai dam was reduced from 7 lakh cusecs on Monday midnight to 4.32 lakh cusecs, authorities fear that the situation would turn grim in the city if the rain continue overnight. With 37 flood gates of Tapi remaining closed, the rain water won't flow into the river and will instead flood low-lying areas.
In Bharuch, at least 40 residential societies on Link Road, Jhadeshwar Road, Nandelav and Jambusar Chokdi were flooded after the town and taluka was pounded nearly 13 inches of rain in 24 hours. Five houses in Parsi Kot area of old Bharuch city also collapsed while a young boy and four buffaloes died when a wall of house collapsed on him at Panetha village.
Nearly 14 inches of rain battered Sagbara in Narmada district, the highest in the state.
Meanwhile, the meteorological department has forecast heavy to very heavy rain in south Gujarat.