AHMEDABAD: Flash floods triggered by torrential monsoon rain have killed at least 26 people in a west Indian state in the past 48 hours, authorities said on Wednesday.

The rain and high winds have also cut power and communications across the north of Gujarat state, raising concerns that villagers may be stranded.

“Over 2,000 villages of north Gujarat have been affected due to the floods,” the duty officer in the state’s emergency control room said.

“We have lost contact with most of these villages and there is no information coming in from those areas.” Rescue teams have been deployed to several hard-hit areas, including the district of Banaskantha where eight people have been killed in rain-related incidents including drownings, local official Dilip Rana said.

“Efforts are on to first rescue those stranded in floodwaters,” district collector Rana said.

Another four people died in Kutch district after several houses collapsed, while more than 1,000 people there have been relocated to higher ground, reported local official M S Patel.

Six fatalities have also been recorded in the main city of Ahmedabad and eight in other districts, the control room officer said.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2015

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