Heavy rain lashes Gujarat for the third day, IMD issues red alert

Gujarat continues to face severe weather conditions as heavy rains persisted for the second consecutive day on July 1.

The Met Office has issued a red alert as heavy rain continued to lash large parts of Gujarat since the last three days.

Kalyanpur taluka in Devbhumi Dwarka district received a staggering 174 millimetres of rainfall within a 12-hour period ended 6pm on July 1, according to officials.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued the red alert for districts such as Surat, Navsari, Valsad, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Junagadh, Dwarka, and Kutch on July 1, following forecast extremely heavy rainfall until July 2 morning. An 'orange alert' has also been issued for these districts for July 2 and 3.

"On July 2, parts of South Gujarat and Saurashtra may receive very heavy rain at isolated places, while heavy rain would lash several parts of North and Central Gujarat and Saurashtra. On July 3, very heavy rain is likely in Surat, Navsari, Valsad and in Daman and Dadra Nagar Haveli," the IMD said in a release.

Junagadh experienced 3.45 inches of rainfall within two hours on Tuesday morning, leading to widespread flooding in various areas, officials reported. Police have closed underpasses with barricades, and there is significant waterlogging on the service road of the National Highway 48.

"Three state highways in Junagadh are closed at present. We anticipate the situation to stabilise once the water levels recede. Alerts have been issued in low-lying areas, and efforts are underway to manage the waterlogged roads," said JP Zala, deputy collector of Junagadh.

The weather patterns are influenced by two cyclonic circulations affecting the north and south regions of Gujarat, contributing to the ongoing wet spell.

Data from the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) reveals that 46 talukas received over 40 mm of rainfall by 6 pm on Monday. Apart from Kalyanpur taluka, significant rainfall was recorded in Manavadar (164 mm) and Khambhalia (156 mm) in Devbhumi Dwarka, as well as Keshod (155 mm) in Junagadh.

The heavy rainfall has resulted in widespread impacts across the state, with Junagadh city receiving 130 mm and Dhoraji in Rajkot recording 127 mm of rainfall.