Rains aplenty in south Gujarat, few drops in water-starved Kutch

Ahmedabad, July 8 (IANS) South Gujarat bordering Maharashtra continued to receive heavy showers during the last 24 hours up to Monday, while the perennially drought prone Saurashtra and Kutch regions were still starving for water at less than 20 per cent of the rain averages this season.

According to the State Emergency Operations Centre, Gujarat registered an overall average rainfall of 191 mm so far, which is 23 per cent of the seasonal average of 816 mm.

Valsad district in south Gujarat recorded the highest rainfall of over 42 per cent of its average and Umergam taluka (tehsil) in the district received as much as 236 mm rain during the last 24 hours.

The south Gujarat area alone has seen 29 per cent of the total expected average rainfall.

Authorities opened six sluice gates of the Madhuban dam causing heavy water releases in the Damanganga river. The Sardar Sarovar Dam over the river Narmada also received heavy water inflows following rains in the upper catchment area in Madhya Pradesh.

The water level at the dam site at Kevadia reached 121.02 metres of the total height of the dam of 138.68 metres.

Though not a single taluka of the total 251 in Gujarat has gone without rains, this means little to the Saurashtra and Kutch regions, which together received less than 20 per cent so far. The sprawling desert district of Kutch remains the most thirsty with only six per cent rainfall so far.

The meteorological department, meanwhile, has issued warning of heavy rains all over the state, including in south Gujarat and Saurashtra.

As of now, sowing was reported on 28.24 lakh hectares this season, which is only 33.32 per cent of the normal in the entire state.