Gujarat receives 71 per cent of seasonal rainfall

Ahmedabad, Aug 20 Heavy rain lashed Gujarat's coastal Saurashtra region, with Devbhumi Dwarka district recording the highest rainfall of 11 inches, including 10.75 inches in Kalyanpur and 6 inches in Dwarka taluka.

The rainfall was recorded in the past 24 hours.

Porbandar received around 4 inches of rainfall, Mangrol 3.74 inches, Sutrapada 3.35 inches, and Jafrabad over 3 inches.

In Junagadh's Mendarda taluka, nearly 10 inches of rain poured in just four hours between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Wednesday, while Vanthali and Keshod saw over 5 inches and 4 inches, respectively. Heavy showers were also reported from Bhavnagar's Mahuva (4.76 inches) and Gir-Somnath's Talala (4 inches).

The downpour has significantly boosted water storage, with the Sardar Sarovar Dam now 77.88 per cent full, holding 26,017.4 MCM of water, while the other 206 reservoirs across the state are at 74.48 per cent of their capacity. Authorities have placed 64 dams on high alert, 29 on alert, and 21 under warning.

According to the State Emergency Operations Centre in Gandhinagar, Gujarat has so far received over 71 per cent of its seasonal average rainfall, with Kutch leading at 75 per cent, followed by South Gujarat (73 per cent), North Gujarat (72 per cent), Central-Eastern Gujarat (nearly 70 per cent), and Saurashtra at 69.06 per cent. Since 2020, Gujarat has exhibited increasingly erratic and intense rainfall trends.

The year 2020 saw an extraordinary 1,091.7 mm of rain, about 58 per cent above average, with Devbhumi Dwarka alone recording 2,132 mm, a staggering 325 per cent excess. In 2021, Saurashtra endured severe floods in September, resulting in loss of life and massive infrastructure damage.

Data for 2022 suggests near-normal to slightly below-normal totals, though numbers remain limited.

In 2024, Saurashtra-Kutch alone saw a 75 per cent excess rainfall, one of the highest in India. The total seasonal rainfall ended up approximately 8 per cent above normal, with reservoir levels significantly impacted.

In 2025, the monsoon arrived early, and by mid-June, Gujarat had already received 30 per cent of its seasonal rainfall (257 mm), the fastest such pace in a decade, far surpassing the five-year average of just 10.6 per cent for that period. June proved to be the wettest month since 2015, delivering about 288.7 mm, around 32.7 per cent of the annual average rainfall.

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