Gujarat rains: IMD issues orange alert, train cancellations today; no major impact of cyclone Asna. 10 points

Gujarat has been experiencing heavy rain since the past few days, leading to parts of the state being inundated and displacing hundreds of residents to safer locations due to severe floods. Heavy rains will continue to batter the state today as the Indian Meteorological Department has issued an orange alert for several districts of the state. In addition to this, the weather department had also issued a warning of formation of a cyclone over the north Arabian Sea, off the coast of Gujarat, on August 30.

Here are top 10 points you need to know

1. In an update on Cyclone Asna, IMD said that the cyclone "Asna" is likely to move West-Northwest over the Northeast Arabian sea and away from the Indian Coast during the next 24 hours.

2. In a tweet, IMD wrote, Cyclonic Storm "Asna" over the northeastern Arabian Sea, near the Pakistan coast, moved westward at a speed of 14 kmph. Its current position is at latitude 23.6°N and longitude 66.4°E, approximately 250 km west of Naliya (Gujarat), 160 km south-southwest of Karachi (Pakistan), and 350 km east-southeast of Pasni (Pakistan).

3. As a precaution, the local administration relocated around 3,500 people to safer areas and advised residents of huts and mud houses to move to sturdier buildings, according to Kutch district collector Amit Arora. He added, “Since the cyclone has already entered the sea and is heading towards Oman, there was an impact on the coast. Except for some rain and winds blowing at considerable speed, there was no impact here. There was no immediate news about injury or death or collapse of any major structure."

4. Speaking of today's forecast, an orange alert for very heavy rains has been issued. Met department in its weather forecast for today said, “Heavy to very heavy rains very likely at isolated places in all the districts of Saurashtra-Kutch namely Surendranagar, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Junagadh, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Morbi, Dwarka, Gir Somnath, Botad, Kutch and in Diu.”

5. Moreover, yellow alert for heavy rains has been issued in the districts of South Gujarat region namely Bharuch, Surat, Dang, Tapi, Navsari, Valsad and in Daman, Dadara Nagar Haveli.

6. Due to waterlogging between Dwarka and Bhimrana in the Rajkot Division, the 09479 Rajkot-Okha Passenger Special (Unreserved) scheduled for 31.08.2024 and the 09480 Okha-Rajkot Passenger Special (Unreserved) scheduled for the same day have been cancelled while 15667 Gandhidham-Kamakhya Exp of 31.08.2024 will be diverted via Maliya Miyana-Halvad-Dhrangadhra-Viramgam.

7. Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the ground situation of his Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency following the recent spell of heavy rains in Gujarat and gave necessary instructions to the administration.

8. A road leading to the Statue of Unity in Gujarat collapsed due to flooding in the state. Huge cracks can be observed in the highway near Rajvi Crossing on Dabhoi Road and it had to be closed to prevent accidents, according to reports.

9. Earlier on Thursday, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi where he enquired about the flood situation and relief measures for the affected people.

10. In a post on X, CM Patel said that the PM guided him on matters including restoring public life quickly. “As it has been raining heavily for the last three days across Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji once again had a telephonic conversation with me this morning to get information about the situation. He learned about the relief measures for the affected people of various districts of the state. Expressing concern over the flooding of the Vishwamitri river in Vadodara, he sought details of the relief and assistance being provided to the affected people.”

(With inputs from agenies)