Rain gods bring back smiles in Saurashtra

Rajkot: A flood of respite swept residents Jamnagar and Devbhoomi Dwarka districts that were pounded by heavy rainfall on Friday, bringing much-needed relief to the agrarian community too.
Jamkhambhaliya town which has been witnessing an incessant wet spell since July 29 received 520 mm rainfall in 36 hours ending Friday morning.
Dams in the districts, many of which were touching rock-bottom, were overflowing, a sight that locals were longing to see.
Besides Jamkhambhaliya, Dhrol town of Jamnagar district was also lashed by 326 mm rainfall in the morning. Significant rainfall was recorded in most of the towns of Jamnagar, including Kalavad (241) and Jamjodhpur (207.
The continuous rainfall resulted in the waters gushing into several low-lying areas in Dhrol, Jamkhambhaliya, Kalavad and Bhanvad towns.
Schools and other eductional institutes in the two districts remained closed as a precauationary measure. Jamnagar district administration has issued an alert to villages in in the downstream of 13 dams which could overflow anytime.
According to district flood control room officials, most parts of Saurashtra and Kutch received notable rainfall on Friday. Wet spell covered Amreli, Junagadh, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Dwarka, Kutch, Morbi and Surendranagar. Kutch received the first good spell of monsoon rains on Friday with most places recording over 100 mm.
Khavda received highest rainfall with 140 mm followed by Mundra (115 mm), Mandvi (123 mm), Anjar (117 mm), Abdasa (104 mm) and Bhuj received 70 mm rainfall on Thursday. Kutch has just received 19 percent of its average annual rainfall till Friday morning
According to Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA), Saurashtra has received 43 percent of its average annual rainfall so far.
In just 36 hours ending Friday morning, Saurashtra received nearly 10 percent of its average annual rainfall.
According to the water resources department officials, water level in dams could go up to 5 percent in all dams of Saurashtra due to the ongoing wet spell.
Rajkot city too witnessed a heavy downpour in the afternoon as it received 78 mm rains just four hours. Several areas were waterlogged and vehicular traffic was unable to move smoothly due to water logging in Rajkot.