Monsoon sets over Kutch, Saurashtra and South Gujarat regions

The meteorological department today said that monsoon has set over most parts of Gujarat except the Central and Northern region even as sporadic rains were witnessed in Saurashtra region in the last 24 hours.        

Deep depression which hit the Saurashtra coast on Tuesday last has weakened into low pressure and has caused rains in the region for the last two days, IMD officials said.        

"Now we can say that in Gujarat, monsoon has set in the Kutch, Saurashtra and South Gujarat region, while it is yet to cover Central and Northern parts of the state," Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Ahmedabad Director Kamaljeet Ray told PTI.        

"For the next 24-48 hours we predict heavy rainfall in Saurashtra and Kutch region. Though no signals have been issued but fishermen in the coastal areas have been warned not to go into the sea," she said, adding that ports have also been intimated about the forecast of heavy rains in Saurashtra and Kutch region.        

According to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) which compiles rainfall data in the state, medium to heavy rainfall was recorded in the Jamnagar, Jundagadh and Kutch districts of Gujarat in the last 24 hours.

Three boats carriying 40 fishermen on board, were stranded 20 nautical miles off the Okha coast due to rough weather in the Arabian sea this morning.        

Kalyanpur taluka of Jamnagar received the highest rainfall (160mm), while other talukas of the district like Dwarka (125mm), Bhanvad (102mm) and Khambhalia (100mm) received considerable amount of rain.        

Most parts of Jundagadh district also received showers since yesterday. These included Magroll (117mm), Keshod (93mm) and Sutrapada (80mm) blocks.        

Besides Jamnagar and Jungadh, moderate amount of rainfall was also registered in the Kutch and Porbander district of the state.        

Out of the 225 talukas in the state 44 received good rainfall. Twelve talukas registered rainfall between 150mm to 75mm while 32 blocks got rains ranging between 55mm to 13mm.        

Nearly 15 districts of the state remained dry during the last 24 hours which included Ahmedabad, Anand, Banaskantha, Sabarkantha, Dahod, Kheda, Mehsana, Bhavnagar, Dangs, Narmada, Panchamahal, Patan, Surat, Gandhinagar and Tapi.