Jamnagar: Heavy rains lashed Saurashtra and Kutch region of Gujarat in the last 24 hours, and a sluice gate of Saani dam in Jamnagar district has been damaged resulting in leakage from the dam, officials said.
The district authorities have sounded an alert in eight villages following the incident, they said.
"A ring in one of the sluice gates of Saani dam has got ejected, creating a gap. We are taking all precautions in routine course until it gets repaired," District Collector
Sandeep Kumar said.
The dam on Saani river was repaired this year at a cost of Rs 1 crore, official sources said, adding that following the incident, the Irrigation Department has been asked to repair the gate on priority.
When two officials of the Irrigation Department reached the dam site to take stock of the situation, an irate mob damaged the vehicle, in which, the officials came. The two were taken to a safe place, police said.
Meanwhile, moderate to heavy rains today lashed Saurashtra and Kutch region, while the Arabian Sea turned stormy, compelling the fishermen to return to coastal towns like Veraval, Jaffarabad and Porbander.
Kalyanpur town of Jamnagar district has received 250 mm rainfall in the past 24 hours, while Una town of Junagadh district recorded 175 mm rainfall, MET officials said.
While Arabian sea turned stormy and high tide up to seven metre created panic among the fishermen in the sea, sources in National Fish Forum said.
"The fishermen have started coming back and nearly 150 boats have returned safely so far," they said.
Six boats were trapped in the stormy sea and efforts were on to bring them back to safety, sources added.
Kutch, another coastal district of the state also received heavy rains in the last 24 hours, officials said.
PTI
