Floods kill 81 in India’s Gujarat state

Relief work continues amid evacuations

AHMEDABAD: Relief workers were trying to reach thousands of people stranded by floods in India’s western Gujarat state on Saturday. The floods triggered by torrential rains have so far claimed 81 lives, officials said.

Officials were providing food and water to the people affected by flash floods in the Saurashtra region. Thousands fled to safer areas following the rains that started Wednesday.

The rain has since subsided but caused extensive destruction with scores of houses damaged as well as roads, railway tracks, bridges and electricity pylons destroyed.

An official from the state’s emergency department said two more bodies were recovered on Saturday in the coastal district of Amreli. Nearly 9,000 people have been evacuated to higher ground in Amreli, Rajkot and Bhavnagar districts of Gujarat. The monsoon rains arrived days ahead of schedule in the western and northern parts of India, raising hopes the annual rains may not be as little as predicted by the India Meteorological Department. The monsoon has covered nearly the entire country delivering 24 per cent excess rainfall so far.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 28^th, 2015.