In Vadodara district, life continued to be affected for the third consecutive day in at least a dozen villages of Dabhoi, Karjan and Shinor talukas of Vadodara district, though no water was released into the Narmada from Madhya Pradesh.

In Bharuch, where parts of the town have been under water for the past week, about three dozen boats have been pressed into service to ferry people from their first floor and upper-storey houses to buy essentials like milk and vegetables.

As many as 3,265 members of 664 families and more than 4,000 animals have been moved out of the submerged parts of Golden Bridge slums, Bhaman Bahucharaji, Nicorabet, Tohrabet, Shukla Teerth, Karoth in the city and several villages, including Sharfuddin and Juna Borwata along the old NH-8.

Several temples and mosques, including the Dattatreya Temple on the bank of the river and Badshahi Mosque in Furja mohalla, have also been submerged by rising water level in the past 10 days.

In Vadodara district, meanwhile, officials manning the ghats at the Narmada Temple in Chandod village, Dabhoi taluka, said though the Swaminarayan, Narmada Ma and the Hanuman temples continued to be waterlogged, the water had receded slightly receded and was likely to go further down by Thursday afternoon.

However, the low-lying roads connecting at least a dozen villages in Dabhoi, Karjan and Shinor including Sanoor, Kanradi, Wadi, Bhimpura, Mandwa, Nandiria, Pura and Malsar continued to be under water. They were accessible only on heavy vehicles like tractors. However, no one was shifted from any affected villages, officials said.

The officials said that about 100 officials, including police personnel, were still on the round-the-clock duty at the pilgrimage site to keep an eye on devotees coming to immerse Ganesha idols there. On Wednesday, the 200-odd devotees who came to the spot were asked to be extra careful in view of the swelling Narmada.