The Indian Navy has swung into action to rescue people in the flood-hit areas of Gujarat following incessant rain battering the state.

“Based on a request for assistance from the civil administration, a team of naval divers with support gear was dispatched at short notice from INS Sardar Patel to Rajkot on the evening of 13 Sep 21 to join the ongoing rescue efforts.  Six more teams are ready to augment the ongoing civil rescue efforts in affected areas,” the defence ministry said in a statement.

Similarly, several rescue teams have been deployed from INS Valsura in Jamnagar to assist stranded people from various parts of rain affected and inundated areas of the city.

“Equipped with Gemini boats, life vests, first aid kits and other requisite gear, the teams rescued a large number of people including elderly and women and shifted them to safety. Naval teams also provided food packets to stranded citizens,” the official statement said.

Senior naval authorities are in constant liaison with civil administration to offer any help needed in flood relief activities. More rescue teams have been kept standby to be dispatched at short notice.

Heavy rains battered parts of the Saurashtra region on Monday, leading to the death of three people in Rajkot and Jamnagar as rivers overflowed and low-lying areas got flooded, prompting the authorities to issue alerts and deploy NDRF and SRDF teams for evacuation and relief.

The development comes just as newly sworn-in Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has taken over. He held a high-level meeting with top officials to review the situation in the Saurashtra region of the state.