The Gujarat Chief Minister, Vijay Rupani, on Sunday moved to the flood-hit Banaskantha district to oversee the relief and rescue operations by the administration. Rupani informed that he will be camping in the flood-hit districts of North Gujarat for the next five days to ensure faster action.
On Sunday morning, Rupani visited the Khariya village at Kankrej Taluka in Banaskantha, which was the worst affected in the floods that was triggered after heavy rainfall in the region.
Till now during the monsoon season, 145 people have lost their lives, while 1,12,878, were shifted to safer locations during the floods. More than 17,800 people have been rescued so far with the help of Army, Indian Air Force, NDRF, and SDRF, besides police and fire personnel.
The Chief Minister interacted with the flood victims and the family members of the deceased in Banaskantha and assured them of government support. Over 2 million food packets were distributed in the two districts.
Rupani also visited the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) market yard at Dhanera, where devastating floods damaged stored agricultural commodities, including castor and grains in huge quantities.
On Saturday, the Union Agriculture Minister, Radha Mohan Singh, visited the flood-hit districts and informed that over 4.5 lakh people in 800 villages of 18 districts of the State were affected in the floods. The assessment of damage to kharif crop and farm land will be conducted with the help from Central team.
Last week Prime Minister Narendra Modi had rushed to Gujarat and conducted an aerial survey of the flood-hit regions and announced Rs 500 crore as immediate relief to Gujarat.
While the Government has ensured faster relief and rescue operations, cleaning and disposal of carcasses has assumed top priority. More than 4,100 animals were dead following the floods.
The rains and floods had disrupted power supplies in 753 villages, out of which in 722 villages, power supply has been restored. The State has received 642.4 mm or 70.26 per cent of the average rainfall till Saturday. Of the 203 reservoirs in the State, 34 dams have 100 per cent filling, while 41 dams have filling of 80-99 per cent of their total capacity.