The Vishwamitri River in the district and city of Vadodara stood at 34 feet yesterday 10 September 2014 – 8 feet above flood stage. The overflowing river affected thousands of people – mostly the areas very poor – who live along the river’s banks and in low lying areas.
The river’s levels had increased by 4 feet overnight, after heavy rainfall across the Indian state of Gujarat over the last few days, in particular central Gujarat.
20,000 people have been evacuated and two people have died in flood related incidents in the last 2 days. There have also been some reports of several crocodiles swimming in the flood waters, which has brought them close to homes and buildings.
Schools, hospitals and government buildings have all been flooded in Vadodara city. Transport infrastructure and power supply have also been affected.
Evacuations
Teams from India’s National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF), the State Reserve Police (SRP) and the fire department were working to evacuate those in vulnerable areas. Local media reports say that over 20,000 people have been evacuated,mostly from 44 villages in Vadodara district, as well as parts of Vadodara city.
Ajwa Reservoir
The situation was worsened by the release of water from the Ajwa reservoir, near Vadodara. Levels if the reservoir were dangerously high, but fell to more manageable levels after the release on Monday 08 September 2014.
Levels of the River soon rose however, and several areas in and around Vadodara city were flooded by Tuesday 09 September 2014.
Elsewhere in Gujrata, the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada river in Navagam overflowed on Wednesday 10 September.
More Rain to Come
Further heavy rainfall is expected in Gujarat until at least 13 September 2014.
Elsewhere in India, the NDMA has issued warnings for heavy rainfall in Uttarakhand, East Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, SubHimalayan West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Goa.
