Ahmedabad, July 14 (UNI) Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel announced Rs 17.10 crore as financial assistance for the municipalities in the state to tackle the flood situation caused due to heavy rains. The state government will provide Rs 17.10 crore to 156 mu municipalities. The aid will be provided for sanitation works including intensive cleaning to address the situation caused by heavy rains. Works like spraying of pesticides in the towns, disposal of solid waste to prevent epidemics, as well as disposal of rainwater will be carried out with the help of the fund.
The Chief Minister has also set the standards for this financial assistance. Accordingly, 22 ‘A’ class municipalities will be given Rs. 20 lakh each, total- ling Rs. 4.40 crore. Similarly, a total of Rs. 4.50 crore will be allotted to 30 ‘B’ class municipalities at the rate of Rs. 15 lakh each. A total of Rs. 6 crores will be given to 60 ‘C’ class municipalities at the rate of Rs. 10 lakh per municipality. The 44 ‘D’ class municipalities will get a total amount of Rs 2.20 crore at the rate of Rs 5 lakh each.
The Navsari District Collector has closed the highway from Chikhli Alipore to Valsad for the safety and security of the citizens due to flooding on the Ahmedabad- Mumbai National Highway in Navsari district due to continuous rains in South Gujarat. The district collector has also requested all citizens to avoid traveling on this highway. Due to heavy rain, and alerts in Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Navsari, and Amreli, all schools and colleges in the districts have been given leave for 2 days – July 14 and July 15. NDRF rescue operations are underway in the flood-hit areas amid continuous heavy rains. In Kandari village of Karjan taluka of Vadodara district, an NDRF team rescued 63 people and sent them to safer places.
The Vyara firefighter team was immediately dispatched by the Tapi Collector for a rescue operation after it was reported that 10 people were trapped in the water near the Purna river in Ambapani village of Dolwan taluka of Tapi district. The rescue operation lasted for about one and a half hours and all the people were rescued. The NDRF team conducted an evacuation operation in the low-lying areas of the Auranga River in Barudiawad (Valsad).
