CM hits the ground running as rains batter Saurashtra region

CM hits the ground running as rains batter Saurashtra region 

Gandhinagar/Jamnagar: Minutes after he was sworn in as Gujarat’s 17th chief minister, Bhupendra Patel held an emergency meeting with district-level officers of Jamnagar, Rajkot and Junagadh via video conference. After assessing the situation, he spoke to Union Home Minister Amit Shah requesting to deploy more NDRF teams for rescue operations. 

Earlier in the day, CM Patel had been in constant touch with Jamnagar collector Saurabh Pardhi to know the ground-level situation. Pardhi said he received his first call from then CM-elect at 8.30 am. 

“Patel already had some information about the heavy rains in Jamnagar. He called me to inquire about the situation and assured all support and manpower to take necessary action to handle the situation,” Pardhi said. 

With roads cut off and communication lines closed due to knee-high water, the Jamnagar district administration called in helicopters to aid in rescue efforts. By noon, 20 people had been airlifted from low-lying areas in coordination with the Indian Air force and State Emergency Operation Centre. 

Fifteen teams from the national and state disaster response forces were also roped in. 

Roads turned into rivers and villages became islands as Jamnagar recorded a 50-year high with triple-digit rainfall. Four choppers rescued 35 people from three villages, with at least six people being airlifted out of Banga village which received more than 20 inches of rainfall in the last 24 hours. As many as 15 state highways, 1 national highway and 130 Panchayat roads were closed due to waterlogging. 

The newly installed CM had wanted to take an aerial survey of the flood-affected area, but did not receive clearance from the Air Force, those familiar with the developments told First India.