Gandhinagar, Sep 14 (IANS): Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Tuesday afternoon will have an aerial inspection of the devastation caused by heavy rains in Saurashtra, mainly Jamnagar and Rajkot. At least three people have died in the torrential downpour which lashed these areas in just less than two days. Till now 7,656 people have been evacuated to safety in Saurashtra.

Newly sworn-in Chief Minister of Gujarat Bhupendra Patel will leave in the afternoon for Jamnagar and Rajkot to have an aerial inspection. He will be accompanied by former Revenue Minister R.C. Faldu, Jamnagar MP, Poonamben Maadam and Gujarat Chief Secretary, Pankaj Kumar.

The administration have deployed NDRF teams for relief and rescue operations. Many people had to be airlifted by Indian Air Force (IAF) choppers on Monday. The IAF rescued 24 people only from Jamnagar.

The massive downpour was so intense in Rajkot's Lodhika Tehsil that it received almost seven inches of rains in just ten hours from 6 a.m. in the morning to 4 p.m. in the evening. Waters entered people's homes destroying food, valuables and property. NDRF teams used boats to evacuate people to safer places. Many villages were transformed into islands, getting cut off from the rest of the area.

According to the official data from the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC), the state has received almost 70 per cent of the average annual rainfall, with most of the districts of Saurashtra receiving 92 per cent to 98 per cent of the annual average.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an Orange alert for Tuesday and Red alert for Wednesday for several places of Saurashtra.