Response team to handle rain eventualities in Vadodara

Vadodara administration has formed an incident response team (IRT) to tackle rain-related eventualities, days after the city received an unprecedented 442 mm rainfall in just 12 hours.

According to officials, 13 people from the city and the district have lost their lives in rain-related incidents since July 31.

"We have formed a new Incident Response Team (IRT) comprising officers from various departments of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) and the state government to mitigate monsoon-related disasters and coordinate emergency rescue operations in the limits of Vadodara city and various talukas," said District Collector Shalini Agarwal.

On July 31, Vadodara city received a staggering 442 mm of rainfall in just 12 hours, forcing shut-down of airport, cancellation of a few trains and leading to largescale inundation.

Dabhoi, Padra, Karjan, Waghodiya and Savli talukas of the district have been receiving intermittent showers since then.

The collector said the administration had evacuated a large number of people stranded in water-logged areas of Vadodara and district in the last ten days.

She also said that water supplyand electricity have been restored in all the affected areas.

Water tankers have been deployed in several localities for supply of drinking water to the residents, she added.

"Health teams have been distributing tablets to the affected people suffering from some minor illnesses," the collector said, adding that an amount of more than Rs 5.29 crore has been distributed to more than 1.06 lakhs people affected by rains in the city.

The rain situation is under controlnow with the water level of the Vishwamitri river falling.