Gujarat

NEW DELHI, June 4 (NNN-UNI) – At least five people were killed and over 50 others injured Wednesday, in a massive explosion inside a chemical factory, in India’s western state of Gujarat.

The blast-triggering fire, went off at a plant in an industrial area, in Dahej of Bharuch district, about 254 km south of Gandhinagar, the capital city of Gujarat.

An official posted at Bharuch collectorate office said, “Some of the bodies were found inside the factory, while few others succumbed at hospital.”

Ahmedabad, May 28 (PTI) A BJP MLA in Gujarat tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday and was admitted to a private hospital.

His condition was stable, said state BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya.

Congress MLA Imran Khedawala took a jibe at the MLA for not opting for government-run hospitals.

Did the BJP legislator not trust the state government's claim that government hospitals were providing the best treatment, he asked.

Ahmedabad, May 27 (PTI) The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown has severely hit the wedding industry in Gujarat, which has witnessed approximately 30,000 cancellations and postponements in the last two months.

At least 30,000 weddings planned across the state have been called off or postponed in the last two months in light of the ongoing health crisis, said spokesperson of Hotel and Restaurant Association (Gujarat) Abhijit Deshmukh.

Ahmedabad, May 22 (PTI) The Congress has alleged that the Gujarat government was playing with the lives of coronavirus patients to promote 'Dhaman-1' ventilators made by a firm `owned by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani's friend'.

The ruling BJP called the allegations levelled by the Congress on Thursday as baseless and said the opposition party was maligning the image of a local manufacturer.

Surat, May 20 (PTI) A 20-year-old migrant labourer from Assam, who had lost his job due to the COVID-19-enforced lockdown, allegedly committed suicide at a slum in Gujarat's Surat city on Wednesday, police said.

Sunil Rijajagan Maheli was found hanging from the ceiling of his tenement in the Bhestan locality in the morning, inspector D K Patel of Pandesara police station said.

"The deceased, who was living with other Assamese labourers, had lost his job and had stayed behind even as others left for their home state," the official said.

Ahmedabad, May 18 (PTI) The Congress on Monday slammed the Karnataka government's decision to let in people from Gujarat in a staggered manner, alleging the BJP-led dispensation in the southern state is increasing the hardships of its own people settled in the western state.

In a counter, the ruling BJP in Gujarat asked the opposition party in the state not to politicise health-related decisions.

Ahmedabad, May 18 (PTI) Nearly 100 migrant workers gathered on a busy road connecting IIM Ahmedabad with Vastrapur area here on Monday and pelted stones at police and people passing by during the lockdown, an official said.

A local claimed the migrant workers were demanding that they be allowed to go back to their native places.

Police lobbed teargas shells to disperse the rioters and detained several suspects, an official from the city police control room said.

Ahmedabad, May 16 (PTI) The number of COVID-19 cases in Gujarat crossed the 10,000-mark on Saturday, with 1,057 new patients being found positive for coronavirus including 709 "super spreaders" in Ahmedabad, which accounted for 14 of the total 19 deaths, a Health official said.

The total cases now stands at 10,989 while the number of fatalities rose to 625, the official said.

"Ten of the 19 deceased were suffering from comorbidities," said Principal Secretary (Health) Jayanti Ravi.

Gandhidham, May 13 (PTI) Desperate to travel to their home states amidst the coronavirus-induced lockdown, hundreds of migrant workers on Wednesday blocked a main highway passing through Gandhidham town in Gujarat's Kutch district and pelted some vehicles with stones, an official said.

These migrants claimed that though they had finished the necessary registration process but there was no response from the administration about their repatriation.

Ahmedabad, May 14 (PTI) More than 300 Shramik Special trains from Gujarat have ferried around 4 lakh migrant workers to their home states amid the lockdown so far, accounting for 40 per cent of transportation of such people in the country, said officials on Thursday.

With this, out of the total 10 lakh migrants sent back to their respective native places through Shramik Special trains across the country so far, as many as four lakh were from Gujarat alone, they said.