Saturday, July 2 2005 10:53 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Ahmedabad: Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, who conducted an aerial survey of the flood-affected Ahmedabad and Chheda districts of Gujarat today, said the situation was grim.

"The situation is serious. There is water everywhere. The villages, roads and railway lines are all submerged," he told reporters at the airport in Ahmedabad.

However, Patil said he could not visit Baroda, the worst-hit district, due to bad weather.

"Since I could not complete the survey, Chief Minister Narendra Modi and the officials would do the survey and make a detailed assessment of the damages," he added.

He also said that the passengers of Shanti Express, who were stranded at Dakor station on a marooned train, may have been evacuated as during his survey he could not spot any passenger at the station.

Patil said, "Once the rain fury subsides, we have to help the kin of the dead and carry on the relief work for the affected. The State Government will have to begin rehabilitation of the affected people in a day or two".

Modi, who had been accompanying Patil, said Ranapur village in Ahmedabad district, which is otherwise a drought-prone area, received 8 inches of rainfall in four hours, inundating 30 villages.