Over 11,000 shifted in Vadodara, Army called in

Over two lakh people are affected due to river water inundating the residential areas mostly in western parts of the city

Though rain has stopped in since Wednesday morning people of Vadodara city did not get respite as the water in low lying areas continued to rise in level of Vishwamitri river due to high tide in the sea. As many as 11,000 persons were shifted to safer locations and the Army was called in to help with the evacuation operations. This was in addition to the three teams of National Disaster Rescue Force (NDRF) already stationed in Vadodara.

The river Vishwamitri was flowing above the danger level as the water was not entering the sea because of high tide. "The situation is likely to continue till tomorrow as the effect of high tide due to full moon on Tuesday will remain," said Gujarat government spokesperson Nitin Patel.

"As many as 11,000 persons have been shifted to safer locations in Vadodara city. This has been done with the help of the Army which has been called in. The NDRF team is also engaged in rescuing people stranded in water across the city," Patel informed.

In the areas that were submerged in water and inaccessible, Army helicopter was used to drop food packets for the people who were stranded or living on roof tops, the spokesperson said, adding that there were no deaths reported due to flood like situation in Vadodara. As of Tuesday night all gates of the Ajwa dam have been closed.

Over 200,000 people have been affected due to river water inundating the residential areas mostly in western parts of Vadodara city. All the three bridges on Vishwamitri river have been closed. The administration has ordered closure of schools and colleges.

Meanwhile, the weather department said that the monsoon was vigorous over Gujarat and almost all parts of the state received rains in last 24 hours. While the low pressure area over Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan had become less marked, the cyclonic circulation of Gujarat and adjoining Arabian sea persisted and is likely to being heavy to very heavy rains to the state for the next two days.