Heavy rains batter south Gujarat, Saurashtra; Navsari, Junagadh cities worst hit
Ahmedabad, Jul 22: Heavy to very heavy rains pounded several districts in Gujarat's south and Saurashtra regions on Saturday, triggering a flood-like situation in urban areas and isolating villages amid rising water levels in dams and rivers surging to danger levels.
In Junagadh city, dozens of parked cars and cattle were swept away in gushing waters after it received 219 mm of rain in 8 hours till 4 pm on Saturday. People were seen wading through waist-deep water to shift to safer places, while some of them were rescued by volunteers as they were carried away in strong currents.
Navsari and Junagadh were among the worst affected districts due to the torrential downpours that led to a deluge in several residential pockets and marketplaces.
Authorities requested people to take precautions and urged them to contact the control room in case of any untoward incident or emergency situation. People were warned to not visit dams and surrounding areas.
Rescue teams were pressed into service to shift people living in low-lying areas to safer places.
In south Gujarat, heavy rains pummelled Navsari district where normal life was thrown out of gear in urban and rural areas due to flooding. Navsari and Jalalpore talukas of the district received 303 and 276 mm of rainfall, respectively, between 6 am and 4 pm, said the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC).
A father-son duo was swept away in a swollen drain in Navsari city. While the man was rescued, efforts were underway to trace the son, an official said.
Over 200 mm of rainfall in a few hours on Saturday morning overwhelmed the city's drainage system, with water spilling onto roads and low-lying areas. It caused massive traffic congestion in the city, and the situation was brought under control through a coordinated effort, additional collector Ketan Joshi said.
Water gushed into a godown storing empty gas cylinders after a wall collapsed there, washing away the LPG containers, Joshi said, adding that the district supply department was looking into the matter.
Heavy showers also caused traffic jams on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad national highway near Navsari due to flooding, officials said.
In another incident, a father-son duo drowned after their car got washed away near Silvassa town of Dadra and Nagar Haveli district in the Union Territory neighbouring Gujarat. The two were caught by fast-moving waters on Friday night when they were trying to cross over a low-lying bridge.
A rescue team recovered the car and their bodies inside the vehicle on Saturday afternoon, an official said.
Devbhumi Dwarka, Bhavnagar, Bharuch, Surat, Tapi, Valsad and Amreli were among other districts that received heavy rainfall on Saturday, the SEOC said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall with isolated extremely heavy rainfall in south Gujarat and Saurashtra-Kutch districts till Sunday morning. Heavy to very heavy rainfall will continue in many other districts of south Gujarat and Saurashtra-Kutch during the next three days, the IMD said.
The IMD also warned fishermen to not venture along and off the north Gujarat coast from July 22 to July 26 saying squally weather conditions were very likely to prevail during this period.
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CJI Surya Kant clarifies 'parasites' remarks, says 'pained' over media reports
New Delhi (PTI): Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Saturday issued a strongly worded clarification on his 'parasites' remarks, saying he was "pained" by media reports that suggested he criticised youth.
"I am pained to read how a section of the media has misquoted my oral observations made during the hearing of a frivolous case yesterday," the CJI said in a statement.
Kant emphasised that his remarks were specifically directed at individuals entering the legal profession through "fake and bogus degrees" and were "misquoted by a section of the media."
The clarification follows a controversy during a hearing on Friday, when the CJI used words like "parasites" and "cockroaches" while pulling up a lawyer for his plea seeking senior designation.
"What I had specifically criticised were those who have entered professions like the Bar (legal profession) with the aid of fake and bogus degrees. Similar persons have sneaked into the media, social media, and other noble professions as well, and hence, they are like parasites.
"It is totally baseless to suggest that I criticised the youth of our nation. Not only am I proud of our present and future human resource, but every youth of India inspires me. It is not an exaggeration to say that Indian youth have great regard and respect for me, and I too see them as the pillars of a developed India," the chief justice said about his remarks.
