Vadodara witnessed a major cloudburst on Thursday with the city receiving close to 20 inches (499 mm) of rainfall within 24 hours. The heavy downpour caused the swelling of Vishwamitri river, which was flowing at 29 feet. This was nearly three feet above the danger mark.

This caused flash floods in the city, hampering normal life.

Several trains passing through and originating from Vadodara were either cancelled, short-terminated or diverted due to 'heavy water-logging on the tracks'. The Vadodara Railway station was temporarily closed down. Local transport services, including State Transport Corporation buses were suspended bringing the city to a halt.

The Vadodara Airport was also shutdown temporarily, following the rising water levels on the runway Wednesday. Two flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Vadodara were diverted to Ahmedabad airport. Till morning on Thursday, flight operations did not resume.

The Chief Minister Vijay Rupani ordered the evacuation of people from the low-lying areas in and around Vadodara city following falsh floods in Vishwamitri and overflowing of the nearby reservoir, Ajwa dam. Water level at Ajwa dam crossed its warning level of 215 feet.

The Government pressed teams of NDRF, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), SRP, Army, Police and Fire department into action for rescue and evacuation of people from the water-submerged societies.

According to Pankaj Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue Department, over 4000 people were shifted to safer places by midnight on Wednesday.

Schools, colleges, courts as wel as private offices and establishments remained closed on Thursday as the city grappled with heavy flooding.

Within Vadodara district, rainfall at Dabhoi tehsil was reported to be 152 millimetres (mm), Karjan with 137 mm and Waghodia with 124 mm. The neigbouring Chhota Upepur and Panchmahal districts received 100 mm rainfall each.

About 30 talukas of the total 238 in Gujarat received over 100 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours.

So far, the State has received an average rainfall of 376.56 mm, which is about 46 per cent of the normal average of 816 mm.

Meanwhile, the met department has predicted more rains over the next three days in parts of Gujarat. Heavy to very heavy rains very likely at isolated places in the districts of Gujarat region including districts of Banaskantha, Sabarkantha, Patan, Mehsana, Valsad. Heavy rains very likely in the districts of Saurashtra.

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