Heavy rains continue, death toll up to 30

Bhavnagar link broken; CM calls emergency meet

Heavy rains for the last three days in several parts of the state disrupted rail and road traffic in Gujarat. The death toll across the state as a result of the heavy rains has touched 30.

Though the rail line between Ahmedabad and Mumbai was restored on Wednesday, railway officials said torrential rains have cut off the Bhavnagar Ahmedabad link.

Arvind Khare, divisional railway manager of western railway, said: "About one kilometre of the railway track in between Deesa and Damnagar under Bhavnagar division has been completely submerged under water.

"There is almost six feet of water logging over the railway tracks. All the major trains to and from Bhavnagar have been cancelled for Wednesday."

Meanwhile, the rail link between Ahmedabad and Mumbai has been restored on Wednesday and trains began plying on the route although late. Khare said.

"The train service on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad and route was partially disrupted. Trains were running more or less 30 minutes behind schedule on Western and Central lines as well. From tomorrow, we hope from tomorrow all trains on this route will run according to schedule."

The Meteorological department has predicted heavy rain in accompanied with stormy winds in parts of the state in next 24 hours. The local flood control room is monitoring water level at Damanganga Dam near Vapi and Golden Bridge at Bharuch.

The chief minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi had called the emergency meeting with concerned ministers and senior officials to review the state machinery's preparedness in view of the unfavorable weather expected in next 24 hours.

The state government has kept six teams of state reserve police and arranged for two columns of army and two helicopters of Air Force.

Modi has also instructed to post pond entrance tests to be held at Vadodara and Ahmedabad for medical and engineering streams in the interest of students traveling to attend the exams.

Meanwhile, In Bharuch district, about 42,000 villagers from 42 villages have been shifted to safer place.

About 20,000 residents have also been shifted to safer zones in Surendranagar and Navasari districts where about 75 per cent of the average rain of last 10 years has fallen so far.

The district education officer in Navasari has also released a circular for schools directing to announce holidays for students till further notice.

In Saurashtra region, the ailing issue of water scarcity has started resolving with rain during this week. In 13 major tanks of Saurashtra, about 1182.98 cubic meter water has filled now.