Ahmedabad/Palanpur: Even as downpours, which claimed 31 lives in Gujarat, considerably eased, three days of rain bashing caused widespread devastation across Kheda and Patan districts, inundating villages and leaving thousands of acres of farmland under water.In Kheda, the worst-hit was Ramol village in Vaso taluka, where flood-like conditions emerged after the village pond overflowed, sending water into residential areas. Nearly 200 houses in the Indira Nagari and Ramdev Temple areas have been cut off after water levels rose to around 2 feet on approach roads.
A solar farm in Matar taluka of Kheda on Saturday
The village govt health centre, main market area and peripheral settlements have been submerged, while all roads leading to the village remain under water.
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The flooding also disrupted power supply, leaving Ramol without electricity for the past 36 hours and forcing residents to live in darkness.With access severely restricted, local volunteers and social workers have stepped in to provide food, drinking water and essential medicines to affected families.Meanwhile, farmers in Mehmedabad taluka suffered extensive losses as fields remain submerged. In Chapra village, around 200 farmers saw their paddy fields inundated with up to 4 feet of water. Farmers invested more than Rs 5,000 per bigha to cultivate paddy across over 1,000 bighas, but the fields have now turned into virtual lakes.A similar situation prevails in Matar taluka, where thousands of acres of agricultural land is flooded. The paddy transplantation was just completed when heavy rain flooded fields with 2-3 feet of water. Farmers fear the crop could be completely destroyed if the water is not drained quickly.In Patan, where Radhanpur was lashed by 531 mm rainfall in 24 hours ending 6 am Saturday, the district administration rescued around 80 families in Vahedpura village of Sami taluka as water from the pond spread towards low-lying areas. They were given shelter at a primary school.Solar parks submergedGround-mounted solar panels in Patan and Kheda districts, including the Charanka Solar Parl, suffered severe damage due to submergence. Kunj Shah, chairperson, energy committee of the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), said, “In north Gujarat and the Saurashtra region too, there are a number of locations where solar parks are flooded. This has affected the generation because power generation has been stopped to avoid any short-circuits. Exact losses will be known once the water recedes.”
