Heavy showers lash parts of south Guj and Saurashtra

Parts of south Gujarat and Saurashtra have received heavy rains in the last 24 hours ending 8 AM on Tuesday, with Met department predicting "widespread" rainfall across the state till Saturday.

Dharampur taluka in Valsad district received the highest 288 mm rainfall during this period, while twelve talukas received 101-150 mm rainfall, according to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC). As many as 34 talukas have received 50-100 mm rainfall.

For six hours on Tuesday morning, several parts of Saurashtra region received heavy rains, with Dhrol in Jamnagar receiving 89 mm and Jodia 85 mm, as per SEOC data.

"Rajkot district in Saurashtra zone received 203 mm rainfall during this period. Kaprada in the district received 191 mm, while 208 mm rainfall was recorded in Waghai in the Dangs district," the SEOC said.

Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were put on stand-by in various rainfall districts in north and south Gujarat and Saurashtra region to tackle any eventuality.

NDRF teams have been put on stand-by in the district headquarters of Surat, Valsad, Navsari, Aravalli, Banaskantha, Patan, Rajkot, Gir Somnath, and Kutch, among others.

Gujarat has received 37.87 per cent of the annual average rainfall so far, with Valsad receiving the highest average rainfall of the season at 62.71 per cent, followed by Bharuch at 61.91 per cent.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasts widespread rainfall across Gujarat till Saturday, with "heavy to very heavy rainfall" in south and north Gujarat regions, especially in Valsad, Bharuch, Navsari, Tapi, Banaskantha and Patan districts.

Isolated places in Saurashtra region districts of Porbandar, Gir Somnath, Morbi and Rajkot might also receive very heavy rainfall during this period, it said.