The coastal state, which is still recovering from massive devastation due to heavy downpours and flooding, is likely to witness moderate to heavy rainfall today. Gujarat's Saurashtra and Kutch regions are expected to receive extremely heavy rainfall, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) scientists.
The weather forecasting agency has issued an orange alert for districts like Jamnagar, Porbandar, and Dwarka for Friday, August 30. Several parts of the state are likely to witness moderate rain accompanied by thundershowers on Friday.
The IMD has issued an orange alert for the districts of Saurashtra-Kutch namely Jamnagar, Porbandar, Dwarka and in Kutch. Other districts of the region, including Rajkot, Junagadh, Morbi, etc., are kept under yellow alert.
These districts are likely to receive heavy rains in isolated places. The weather forecasting agency has also issued an alert for a few districts vulnerable to disruptions due to torrential rainfall.
"Light to Moderate rain/thundershowers are very likely at most places in all the districts of Gujarat region namely Banaskantha, Patan, Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Gandhinagar, Aravalli, Kheda, Ahmedabad, Anand, Panchmahal, Dahod, Mahisagar, Vadodara, Chhota Udepur, Narmada, Bharuch, Surat, Dang, Tapi, Navsari, Valsad and in Daman, Dadra Nagar Haveli; at most places in all the districts of Saurashtra Kutch namely Surendranagar, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Junagadh, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Morbi, Dwarka, Gir Somnath, Botad, Kutch and in Diu," said IMD in its latest weather bulletin.
Moreover, senior IMD scientist Monika Sharma said while cyclone formation during the southwest monsoon season are rare, it does happen occasionally. "Though its genesis was over the land, it was fuelled by high moisture incursion from the Arabian Sea. But once it forms, the cyclone may not be very strong," she said.
The IMD said that a depression over Saurashtra and Kutch is moving westward, currently 70 km northwest of Bhuj. It is expected to reach the northeast Arabian Sea near Kachchh and strengthen into a cyclonic storm by August 30. The storm will likely continue moving west-southwest over the northeast Arabian Sea, gradually moving away from the Indian coast over the next two days.
Saurashtra and Kachchh regions, which are India’s biggest cotton and peanut growing areas, face risk from heavy precipitation. Any severe damage to cotton plants could put pressure on the South Asian nation to increase overseas purchases, potentially underpinning global prices of cotton that have slumped almost 15% this year.