Downpour leaves Valsad marooned

Surat: Normal life was thrown out of gear in the wake of 332mm rainfall in 24 hours until 6pm in Valsad district on Sunday. Several parts of Valsad town and Vapi town and interior roads of all talukas, including Dharampur , Kaprada , Pardi and Umargam , were inundated because 220mm of rainfall had occurred within a space of a few hours.

Kolak and Damanganga rivers were in spate with their water entering nearby villages. A team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rescued 15 people in Dhulia Faliyu of Salvav village in Vapi taluka, who were marooned because of an overflowing Kolak. Ninety people from a low-lying area of Sanjan town in the district were temporarily shifted to a school by the district authorities, who will continue to release water at the rate of 1.5 lakh cusecs from Madhuban dam into Damanganga in anticipation of more rain.

Traffic movement was affected at several places at Pardi and Vapi stretches of National Highway-8. Water from Khadki creek near Pardi had spilled over to NH-8 bringing traffic to a halt. Pardi-Vapi main road was closed for a few hours because there was three feet water there and so was the situation on interior roads of Kaprada taluka. However, rail traffic between Mumbai and Surat was not affected.

Jalaram Mandir in Vapi got submerged under water. Areas like Zanda Chowk, Gunjan charrastra, Vapi railway underbridge and parts of Vapi GIDC too were submerged under three feet of water. Bandar Road, Kailash Nagar, Mograwadi and Chipwad Danabazar were inundated. The causeway between Sarnala and Patigam in Kaprada overflowed. Ambheti village causeway over Kolak river near Kaarchan village also overflowed while Tulsi river bridge got submerged.

Valsad district collector CR Kharsan told TOI, “There was flooding in Vapi town because Kolak river was in spate after high tide in the sea and incessant rain. However, the water has receded in the town now.” There was no report of any loss of life or major damage to property in Valsad district, sources said.

Meanwhile, Navsari, Surat and Tapi districts recorded moderate rain up to 60mm during the day. Surat city didn’t receive much rain.