Rains finally cover entire Gujarat

The southwest monsoon penetrated deeper into Gujarat and has covered the entire state, leading to rainfall at most places in the drought-prone Saurashtra-Kutch region as well as central Gujarat areas.

The good news arrives on the back of earlier reports that the state had received less than 14 per cent of seasonal rains, with one-third of the 33 districts reporting less than 10 per cent of average rainfall in the season. Overall the state had witnessed 13.72 per cent or 109.36 mm rain till 8 a.m. on Monday.

According to state emergency operation centre figures, 48 of 133 talukas received two to seven inches of rain, even as other 85 talukas received half to one inch of rains in 24 hours till Wednesday morning.

The Meghraj taluka in Arvalli district had received 190 mm of rains and Idar in Sabarkantha recorded 173 mm in 24 hours till 7 a.m. on Wednesday.

The other places that received more than 100 mm of rains in 24 hours include Unjha (154 mm) in North Gujarat, Satlasan (100 mm) and Santrampur (106 mm).

According to Met department, Ahmedabad, that saw 27.6 mm of rains on Tuesday, recorded a mere 0.8 mm rains on Wednesday, while Gandhinagar clocked 36.5 mm of rains (30.0 mm on Tuesday).

Okha in Saurashtra received maximum rains, recording 53.6 mm on Wednesday.

The state government, meanwhile, positioned one National Disaster Response Force team in Surat and one team in Amreli to pre-empt any flood-related situation.

It also kept six more teams on stand-by in the state capital to tackle any eventuality.

The Met department on its part continues to predict light to moderate rains, with thundershowers at isolated places in the state during the coming week.

--IANS

desai/pgh/vm