Extreme rainfall wreaks havoc in India's Gujarat state

Ahmedabad city received 150 millimetres of rain in only three hours

People look at a submerged car in a flooded commercial complex after heavy rains in Ahmedabad. AFP

Authorities in India's coastal Gujarat state closed educational institutions and put dams on high alert on Monday after 24 hours of torrential monsoon rains caused heavy flooding.

As many as 6,000 residents of low-lying areas were moved to safer places, with about 46 villages severely affected by the floods.

Sixteen emergency response teams were deployed for rescue and relief operations.

Heavy rains battered several districts including Valsad, Navsari, Tapi and Narmada, which received about 200 millimetres of rain.

In Valsad, the coastguard rescued 16 people from a river bank after they were stranded by flash floods.

A temple in Chhota Udepur district was washed away.

The state government said more than a dozen dams were put on high alert as water levels rose.

Ahmedabad city received 115mm of rain in the space of three hours. Photos and video posted on social media and broadcast on television showed several parts of the city waterlogged and cars completely submerged.

Top city official Sandeep Sangale said Ahmedabad had not received such heavy rain in at least a decade.

“This is the first time in the last 10 to 15 years that the city has witnessed this much rainfall,” Mr Sangale told The National.

“Although it is not raining today and water has started receding.”

The India Meteorological Department predicted isolated extremely heavy showers in Gujarat over the next five days. The state sits on the Arabian Sea and borders Pakistan, which also reported heavy rains.

The weather office has also warned of extremely heavy rains for the next three day in Karnataka and Kerala states, further south along India western coast.

India’s capital Delhi and the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan are also forecast to receive heavy rain in the next three to four days.

The country is in the grip of monsoon season, which is when it receives about 75 per cent of its annual rainfall.

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