Gujarat: 8 Drown In Meshwo River In Gandhinagar; PM Announces Ex-Gratia

In a tragic incident, eight persons drowned while bathing in the Meshwo river in Gujarat's Gandhinagar district on Friday evening, an official said. It has been reported that the deceased hailed from Vasna Sogthi village in Dehgam taluka.

According to Sub Divisional Magistrate B B Modiya, the incident took place near the village. A group of villagers who came to the river to immerse Ganesh idols first discovered the drowning incident and alerted authorities, Modiya added.

"After getting a message, police and fire brigade personnel rushed to the site. We recovered eight bodies from the river. One person who was assumed to be missing was later found moving about in the village. So the rescue operation, which continued till late evening, was called off," he said.

"The deceased were locals who had come to bathe in the river. They may have misjudged the river's depth since its water level has risen recently due to an under-construction check dam a little distance away," Modiya informed.

Today, a funeral procession was taken out for the deceased in Vasna Sogthi village which attended by Dehgam MLA Balrajsinh Chauhan, MP Hasmukh Patel, political leaders and government officials.

Taking cognisance of the mishap, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund to the next of kin of the deceased persons and a relief of Rs 50,000 to the injured, said the PMO.

Condoling the incident, the prime minister, in a post on X, said, "Deeply saddened by the news of the loss of lives in the drowning incident in Dehgam taluk of Gujarat. My condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones in this tragedy. May God grant peace to the departed souls."

Gujarat weather: Water level rises at Sardar Sarovar Dam, villages alerted

Owing to good rainfall in catchment areas in Madhya Pradesh, the water level of Gujarat's Sardar Sarovar Dam went up to 136.43 metres on Saturday, over two metres short of its full reservoir level, officials said.

The water level of the Sardar Sarovar Dam, located at Kevadia in Narmada district, has risen to 136.43 metres, the highest for the current season, officials of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL) said. The full reservoir level of the dam is 138.68 metres.

With an outflow of around 3.5 lakh cusec from the dam, authorities in Bharuch district downstream the Narmada river have asked villages located in the low-lying areas to stay alert.

In a post on X, the Bharuch Collector on Friday night requested people living in low-lying areas close to the Narmada river to take precautionary measures as the release of water from the dam raised the water level of Narmada river.

In his post, Collector Tushar Sumera said, "At present, 3.25 lakh cusec of water is being released into Narmada river from Sardar Sarovar dam and Narmada is flowing at a level of 20.20 feet. Which is close to the warning level (22 feet). So citizens living in low lying areas are requested to be careful."