Torrential rains lashed Gujarat claiming 11 lives and a high alert has been sounded across the state Friday as many people were shifted to safer places in Nashik and Goa following the incessant downpour.
Three persons were killed in Surat, two each in Navsari and Dangs, one in Narmada and three in Bavala in rain-related incidents, flood control officials said in Ahmedabad.
"A high alert has been issued across Gujarat after 22 of the 25 districts of the state witnessed heavy downpour since this morning," Gujarat Revenue Minister Kaushik Patel said.
People from 29 villages mainly in Vadodara, Panchmahals and Bharuch have been shifted to safer places, sources said.
Rail traffic from Gujarat to Mumbai is running at a sluggish pace due to rains since Thursday night, they said.
Most schools and colleges in the city also remained closed.
In Nashik, heavy incessant rains continued to lash the city and other parts of Nashik district, flooding almost the entire district.
The district administration has shifted hundreds of people to safer places.
One person was washed away near Talkuteshwar temple in the city while another youth was killed at Wajgaon in a wall collapse incident Thursday, sources said.
They said many huts on the banks of rivers Godavari, Darna, Waldevi and Girna were washed away and water gushed into several homes.
One child was drowned and scores of families evacuated from Sanquelim in north Goa, which was flooded due to heavy rains.
"Around 70 families have been moved to a nearby temple in Sanquelim area of north Goa since Thursday night. We have also recieved reports of one child drowning in a gutter," north Goa Collector Nikhil Kumar said in Panaji.
The downpour was caused mainly due to a cyclone hitting the Andhra Pradesh coast, meteorological department sources said forecasting more for the next 24 hours.
Several areas in Panaji city were inundated and people were seen wading through knee-deep water.
Flights were also affected at Dabolim airport since Thursday, but landing has been normal since morning, airport sources said adding, that visibility was improving slowly and only one flight had been delayed Friday morning.
Meanwhile, heavy rains triggered by a cyclonic storm that pounded Andhra Pradesh for the past three days have claimed 74 lives as relief and rehabilitation works are in full swing in all the affected districts Friday.
West Godavari district bore the brunt with 13 deaths, followed by east Godavari and Khammam 10 each, Guntur, Warangal and Karimnagar recording seven deaths each while Nalgonda, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Mahboobnagar and Nizamabad acounting for the remaining casualities.
Relief is being provided round the clock in all relief centres and effective steps are being taken to bring the situation to normal, Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy told reporters.
He said medical teams are touring all the affected areas to check and prevent the outbreak of any epidemic.
