Gujarat rains: IAF chopper airlifts two people left clinging to electric pole for hours amid flooding in Junagadh

An Indian Air Force helicopter on Saturday rescued two persons who were left clinging to an electric pole for several hours amid flooding in a low-lying area of Gujarat's Junagadh district due to heavy rains, an official said.

The Junagadh district administration sought help of an IAF chopper for airlifting two persons stranded near Sutrej village of Keshod taluka after the area was inundated because of heavy rainfall, collector Anil Ranavasiya said.

The two villagers went to their farm on Friday evening and were unable to return due to the flooding, he said.

Read | Flood-like situation in many low-lying areas in Gujarat after heavy rain

A team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) failed in its attempt to rescue the duo, and they were finally airlifted by the IAF helicopter at 4 pm and taken to Jamnagar Air Station for medical check-up, he said.

"Two persons went to their farmland last evening despite being warned by the local sarpanch. They were trapped there due to heavy rainfall and climbed an electric pole after the area got inundated," the collector said.

The duo used their mobile phone to establish contact for their rescue, following which an NDRF team was roped in, he said.

"Since the area is in the interiors, the NDRF team fell short by around 200 feet of reaching them. When we realised it won't be able to rescue them, we requested the state to airlift the stranded men," the officer said.

With the state government's coordination, a helicopter was dispatched from Jamnagar Air Station and it managed to rescue them around 3.30 to 4 pm, he said.

According to officials, the NDRF's rescue efforts had lasted for 10 hours. However, they were unable to reach the men, who were stranded throughout the night, due to the strong water currents at the time.

The "Ghed region" or low-lying area poses geographical challenges during monsoon, as it is easily submerged by rainwater received from its upper catchment area and seasonal rivers.

Several parts of Saurashtra-Kutch and south Gujarat districts received heavy rainfall on Friday and Saturday, causing flooding in low-lying areas and inundated several villages as monsoon rivers were in spate.

As per official data, Dharampur taluka in Valsad district and Khergam in Navsari district received 189 and 186 mm rainfall in 10 hours since 6 am on Saturday.

Parts of Valsad, Navsari, Junagad, Amreli, Bharuch and Vapi received more than 100 mm rain in this period.

The India meteorological Department (IMD) has warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places in the districts of Junagadh, Amreli, Navsari, Dangs and Valsad districts.

Several parts of the state are expected to receive light to moderate rainfall till July 5.

The IMD also advised fishermen not to venture along or off the Arabian Sea till July 3 because of squally weather likely to prevail due to active monsoon conditions.