After a prolonged wait, monsoon rains have returned to Gujarat, lashing the central parts of the State on Thursday and Friday. The Met Department has predicted more rains in the next 48 hours for the region.

As per the State Emergency Operations Centre, out of 251 taluks, 58 have received substantial rains since Thursday morning. A statement issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that two systems conducive to the monsoon were active and would bring rains to Gujarat.

The State has so far received only 58 per cent of the season’s average rainfall of 831 mm.

Since Friday morning, the districts of Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Panchmahal and Kheda received rains in excess of 100 mm. These are the major growing areas for crops such as cotton, soyabean, maize and paddy.

Acreage down

The latest spell of rains has come to the rescue of the State’s kharif sowing. So far, total sowing for this kharif season has been lower, at 72.28 lakh ha (77.97 lakh ha).

State Agriculture Department data showed an increase in the sowing of cotton, maize and soyabean, while sowing of groundnut, castor and pulses remained lower as compared to last year.

As the kharif sowing window closed by the end of July, cotton acreage stood at 26.74 lakh ha (+1 per cent), soyabean at 1.32 lakh ha (+6 per cent) and maize a tad higher at 3.10 lakh ha.

Sowing of groundnut, the second largest kharif crop in the State, stood at 14.65 lakh ha — lower by about 10 per cent against last year.

Storage levels low

The water storage level in dams remained alarmingly low in most parts of Kutch, Central and the North Gujarat region. Water stored in the 203 dams across the State stands at 36 per cent of total capacity.

The Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada holds 39.5 per cent of its total capacity as there is no inflow from the upper catchment area in Madhya Pradesh.

“We are facing a worrisome situation currently with deficient rains and lower water reserves at the dams. However, presently there is no issue on drinking water availability,” said JP Gupta, Principal Secretary, Water Supply, Gujarat.

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