Gujarat Flood Update -- Collated by Sanket Kambli

The water level was receding in most areas even as 18 districts in Gujarat continued to witness heavy rainfall, where the death toll in floods has risen to 135. The Central Disaster Management Secretary, who reviewed the flood situation and relief and rescue operations in Gujarat at a meeting of high-level inter-ministerial committee, held that Kheda Anand, Nadiad and pockets of Ahmedabad rural and Vadodara districts remained the worst hit.
According to the officials, rail transport had been revived on the Delhi- Mumbai route. Railway personnel were working round the clock to restore tracks and regular traffic.
Traffic on Express Highway had started in a limited way last evening.
National Highway No. 6 and 8 had become operational for select vehicles while the National Highway 59 would be made operational for vehicular movement by this evening, officials said.
Nine Army columns had been deployed for rescue and relief works involving 700 personnel and 80 boats. Seven hundred forty CRPF personnel were deployed in Nadiad, Kheda Anand and Ahmedabad rural.
Eight Air Force helicopters were operating from Ahmedabad and Vadodara carrying relief supplies to the people, official’s said. Indian military helicopters dropped food packets on Monday to thousands of people stranded in vast lakes of water following floods and monsoon rains. Army and civil medical teams in motorboats and rubber dinghies struggled to deliver aid to far-flung villages in Gujarat where torrential rains have left 400,000 people homeless. "I've lost my husband; my house has been swept away. I am living on the road and waiting for the government to help," said Phagun Chavda, a 45-year-old woman camping by a state highway.
As the rains ebbed on Monday, hundreds were still living in relief shelters or camping on highways, causing traffic to snarl and delaying aid from reaching India's second-most industrialized state, where rains have ground life to a virtually halt. Authorities plucked out animal carcasses floating in water as fear of disease grew. Rail services and telecommunications have been disrupted for days. The air force evacuated more than 40 people late on Sunday from a village in Kheda district where 2,500 houses were washed away by floods. Kheda is about 65 km south of the state's main city of Ahmedabad. Troops have also rescued dozens of people stranded on rooftops and trees surrounded by brownish flood waters in the past two days. "The challenge is to reach marooned villages in south Gujarat. We have not been able to enter these villages as they are completely submerged in water," said a senior army official. Residents complained about a slow response from authorities. "We have received food packets but the state government has been unable to provide any shelter," said Eshwar Chauhan, a leader of Suda village, who has converted motorized rickshaws into tents for villagers. "It is tough for our children to survive in this weather." Fifteen people died as two vehicles fell into overflowing drains late on Sunday in Madhya Pradesh, which has been battered by heavy rains over the past three days, flood control officials said. District officials are on high alert in parts of the state where many rivers are flowing close to the danger mark, but there have been no reports of damage. Congress party president Sonia Gandhi visited flood-stricken parts of Gujarat on Monday and promised to provide relief. "People are complaining about not receiving cash doles. I have asked the state government to look into the matter and provide aid to needy people," Gandhi told reporters. As the state -- one of the richest in India -- struggled to cope with the flooding, businessmen said industrial production in many areas had slowed to a standstill. Mahendra Sanghi, president of the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry, estimated losses from the floods at about 100 billion rupees ($2.3 billion). India's monsoon season, which runs from June to September, causes flooding every year, killing hundreds of people.