Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel’s ‘SWAGAT’ programme postponed due to heavy rains

Gandhinagar (Gujarat) [India], August 28 (ANI): Due to heavy rainfall in Gujarat, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel’s “SWAGAT” (State Wide Attention on Grievances by Application of Technology) programme, scheduled for August 29, has been postponed, according to an official statement.

The programme aims to address public grievances through an online platform.

The Chief Minister’s Public Relations Unit requested all concerned to note this change in the schedule.

As heavy rains wreaked havoc in Gujarat, State Relief Commissioner Alok Pandey urged the public to follow the do’s and don’ts of the district administration.

“About 1700 people have been rescued so far in the entire monsoon. In the entire four months, 99 deaths have been reported,” he said.

Meanwhile, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Tuesday held a meeting regarding the rain and flood situation in the state with district collectors and municipal commissioners at the State Emergency Operation Centre, in Gandhinagar.

Heavy waterlogging was witnessed across parts of Gujarat. Due to incessant heavy rainfall, water from Ajwa Reservoir and Pratappura Reservoir were released into Vishwamitri River, leading to waterlogging.

In the Malpur area in Gujarat, incessant rainfall has been witnessed for the last three days. Locals said that it had become difficult to walk on the streets.

The Kashi Vishwanath Mahadev Temple complex in Vadodara was submerged due to heavy rainfall and the temple premises were shut on Tuesday. People said that they had never seen so much rain in the last 30 years.

Earlier Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel held a video conference to review the work being done by the administration in the situation arising due to heavy rains in the entire state.

He reviewed the situation caused by the overflow of 15 rivers, 21 lakes, and reservoirs in the state due to heavy rainfall.

According to the data of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), from 8.30 am, August 26 to 5.30 am August 27, various parts of Gujarat received a significant amount of rainfall, apart from Vadodara, Rajkot received 19 cm, Ahemdabad 12 cm, Bhuj and Naliya received 8 cm, Okha and Dwarka received 7 cm while Porbandar received 5 cm rainfall.

Meanwhile, on July 26, the CM instructed the district tehsil administrators in the state-level ‘SWAGAT’ programme to resolve the complaints and problems of the citizens at the district and tehsil levels.

He directed officials to adopt a proactive approach to resolve it.

The CM said, “It is necessary to remove such a situation where people’s problems are not resolved for a long time at the district and tehsil level ‘SWAGAT’ and they have to come to the state ‘SWAGAT’ for this.”