Incessant rains continued in parts of Gujarat leading to flooding and water-logging. With the formation of a low-pressure area, some parts of the State are likely to get heavy to very heavy rainfall on Saturday and Sunday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
The Meteorological Centre in Ahmedabad in its forecast warned of heavy rain in parts of the State on the August 22 and 23, and asked the authorities to take precautionary measures.
“A well-marked low pressure area is currently over eastern Madhya Pradesh and it is moving towards Gujarat. This system would bring widespread rain,” Director of the Met Centre Jayanta Sarkar said.
“Owing to incessant rain since the beginning of this month, Gujarat has already received 89% of the season’s average rainfall,” Mr. Sarkar added.
Continuous rainfall since Friday morning resulted in water-logging and traffic chaos. As many as 131 roads in Gujarat, including a National Highway and seven State highways, were shut for traffic as the monsoon battered several parts of the State on Friday.
One road each in Kutch, Anand, Bharuch, Surat, Junagadh, Porbandar and Gir Somnath districts was shut for vehicular movement.
The State government said that moderate to heavy rainfall was recorded in Kutch, north and south Gujarat and Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. Valsad, Mehsana, Kutch, Navsari and Narmada districts received extremely heavy rain.
Most of the dams and reservoirs in the Saurashtra region are overflowing as rivers and water bodies swell.
So far, around two dozen people have died in rain-related incidents in the State.