Flood-like situation in Vadodara, over 1,000 evacuated
Ahmedabad/Vadodara: Vadodara city in central Gujarat received nearly 500 mm rainfall in 24 hours ending 8 am on Thursday, which created a flood-like situation in the city and disrupted the normal life.
The fire brigade, Army and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) evacuated around 1,000 people from the city and surrounding villages using boats and tractors, and shifted them to safer places, an official press release said.
The torrential rains inundated majority of the areas and roads in the city.
While the Vadodara airport has been shut since Wednesday, several trains have also been cancelled or diverted due to heavy waterlogging on tracks.
Water of the Vishwamitri river, which passes through the Vadodara, entered low-lying areas of the city after Ajwa dam overflowed, officials said, adding that people living in these areas are being evacuated.
As per the figures provided by the state government, Vadodara city received a staggering 499 mm of rainfall in 24 hours ending 8 am on Thursday.
Of this, 286 mm downpour battered the city in just four hours between 4 pm and 8 pm on Wednesday, the release said.
On Wednesday evening, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had called a meeting to review the situation in Vadodara, and asked IAS officers Vinod Rao and Lochan Sehra to rush to the city to provide guidance to the local administration in tackling the situation.
Rupani requested people living in low-lying areas around the river to cooperate with the administration and shift to higher areas. State Meteorological (MeT) Department Director Jayanta Sarkar said this is a record rainfall received in Vadodara city.
He said the state is likely to receive heavy rains in the next three days.
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Voting begins for Assam''s 126 assembly seats
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Guwahati (PTI): Polling for all 126 Assam assembly constituencies began on Thursday to decide the electoral fate of 722 candidates, officials said.
In the high-stakes election, the ruling BJP is aiming for a third consecutive term in office, while the Congress seeks to wrest power after being ousted in 2016.
Polling, being held in a single phase, began at 7 am and will conclude at 5 pm. Long queues of voters were seen outside polling stations from early morning.
An electorate of 2.50 crore, including 1.25 crore women and 318 from the third gender, can exercise their franchise in 31,490 polling stations across the state.
Prominent candidates include Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Congress state president Gaurav Gogoi, assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary, Leader of the opposition Debabrata Saikia, AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal, Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi, and Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) chief Lurinjyoti Gogoi.
Several cabinet ministers, including the AGP’s Atul Bora and Keshav Mahanta, and the BPF’s Charan Boro are also in the fray.
The Congress has the highest of 99 contestants, followed by the BJP (90), AIUDF (30), NDA allies AGP (26) and BPF (11).
Opposition alliance’s Raijor Dal is contesting in 13, AJP in 10, CPI(M) in 3 and APHLC in 2. Outside the two coalitions, the AAP is contesting in 18 seats, UPPL in 18, TMC 22, JMM 16 and there are 258 independents.
The ruling NDA’s main constituents are the BJP, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bodo Peoples’ Front (BPF) while the opposition alliance comprises the Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), CPI(M), All Party Hill Leaders Conference (APHLC) and CPI(ML).
The counting of votes is scheduled on May 4.
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