India, July 31 -- Heavy rain continued to affect south and central Gujarat on Friday, forcing the evacuation of over 5,100 people, triggering rescue operations and prompting authorities to deploy National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and army teams across vulnerable districts.

The state government placed 13 districts under a red alert namely Ahmedabad, Botad, Bhavnagar, Anand, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat, Navsari, Chhota Udepur, Narmada, Tapi, Dang and Valsad while Surendranagar, Rajkot, Amreli, Gandhinagar, Kheda, Panchmahal and Dahod remained under an orange alert.

According to the state government's media statement issued on Friday noon, as many as 5,167 people had been shifted to safer locations....