Nearly 40 persons died in rain-related incidents across the state, the highest being in Valsad and Navsari which together reported 33 deaths till Saturday, largely caused by electrocution or drowning. One death each was reported from Tapi and Surat districts in South Gujarat till Saturday, according to sources in the State Revenue Department.In Ahmedabad district, the Army and Gujarat Police personnel rescued several persons from industrial units and warehouses even as the 60-km NH 47 connecting Ahmedabad to Rajkot, remained closed to traffic till Bagodra for the second consecutive day because of flood related damage. The state highway connecting the city to Viramgam through the auto hubs of Sanand and Mandal which was closed on Friday, opened late Saturday for heavy vehicles. This stretch sees the busiest commercial traffic and has developed as an industrial and logistics zone.The district police rescued 900 workers from the Gallops Industrial Park in Bavla, close to Sanand while more than 80 workers were rescued from an Amazon warehouse in a village in Bagodra taluka by the Army.The flooding in the district is being attributed to excessive rainfall and water released from the Sabarmati River through the Vasna barrage in Ahmedabad. The river flows into the Gulf of Khambhat in the Arabian Sea through Dholka. The flooding is being attributed to excessive rainfall and water released from the Sabarmati River through the Vasna barrage in Ahmedabad. (Express photo)Although rainfall eased in Ahmedabad city, the South Western suburbs including areas in Bopal, Ghuma, Sindhu Bhavan Road (SBR) and Thaltej remained flooded. At several places sink holes were reported, including a party plot on SBR. Places such as the Hariom Villa in Bopal where Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel visited on Friday, continued to be under a foot-deep water when The Indian Express visited on Saturday.Apart from South Gujarat, one death each was reported from Sanand and Dholka in Ahmedabad district and one each from Anand, and Radhanpur in Banaskantha district.Ten deaths were reported from Valsad due to rain-related incidents, while four missing complaints have been registered with different police stations in the district in the past couple of days. In Navsari district, 23 deaths have been reported in the last two days. A total of 33 dead bodies were recovered from both the districts in the past two days.Story continues below this adNavsari Superintendent of Police (SP) Rahul Patel told The Indian Express, “We have recorded 23 deaths and a few missing complaints in the past couple of days. While nearly 20000 people have been rescued and shifted to different places by district administration. The highest number of deaths have been reported from Gandevi taluka. The reason such vast devastation took place in Navsari district is that the rainwater from Dang, Tapi and Surat district reaches into three rivers, Ambika, Kaveri and Purna, as a result of which all these three rivers overflowed and water entered into the low-lying areas on the banks.”Valsad SP Yuvrajsinh Jadeja said, “In the past two days, a total of 10 deaths due to rain-related incident have been reported from seven talukas in the district. Over 16,500 people have been rescued and shifted to shelter homes or to their relatives’ places by the district administration.” . Over 16,500 people have been rescued and shifted to shelter homes or to their relatives’ places by the district administration, said Valsad SP Yuvrajsinh Jadeja. (Express photo)The rainfall has led to a rise in the water level in the rivers, creeks, and also in the dams. Due to levels of rivers rising, water entered many low-lying areas in Navsari, Valsad, Surat, and Tapi, of South Gujarat. In Surat city, machinery in several textile units continue to remain in floodwaters.Thousands of cars and bikes in Surat, Navsari and Valsad were submerged in water.Story continues below this adAs per the data received from the Valsad district disaster department, the seven talukas in Valsad district – Valsad town, Dharampur, Pardi, Kaprada, Umbergaon, Vapi and Nanapondha had on July 22 received a total of 2,759 mm rainfall, followed by 2,665 mm, and 286 mm on the following two days till Friday.Over 362 roads in the district were closed due to waterlogging and barricades were placed at both ends of the roads to prevent people’s entry. Moderate rainfall recorded on Saturday. Similarly, on Saturday, repair of over 121 roads damaged due to floods is underway in Navsari.As per the reports from the Navsari district disaster department, the rainfall recorded in Navsari, Jalalpore, Gandevi, Chikhli, Vansda and Khergam talukas on July 22 was 1,550 mm, followed by on July 23 (1,734 mm) and July 24 (319 mm), while moderate rainfall was recorded on Saturday.(With Inputs from ENS, Ahmedabad)