Gandhinagar : Probability of good rains in the state in the next five days, said experts in the meeting of weather watch group. The meeting of the Weather Watch Group, chaired by Ardra Agarwal, Relief Commissioner, State Emergency Operations Center and Additional Secretary, Revenue Department, was held today via video conference. State Emergency Operations Center Relief Director C.C. Patel said in the meeting that rain has been recorded in 90 talukas of 24 districts in the state from 9.00 am to 6.00 pm today. The highest rainfall of 259 mm has been recorded in Umragam taluka of Valsad district. So far in the state on 31/08/2021 last 362.41 mm. This is 43.14 per cent of the state’s average of 840 mm in the last 30 years. “Given the five-day weather forecast, there is a probability of good rains across the state, with heavy rains expected in some districts of Saurashtra and South Gujarat,” an IMD official said. It has been stated by the official of the agriculture department that, in the current year, as on 31st August 2021, an estimated 80.90 lakh hectares of kharif crops have been planted. During the same period last year, 82.98 lakh hectares were planted. This year, the area under cultivation has gone up by 94.57 per cent against the average of the last three years. According to the official, the Sardar Sarovar reservoir currently has 1,55,419 MCFT. There is water storage, which is 46.52% of the total storage capacity.
According to an official of the Irrigation Department, there are 2,87,531 MCFT of water storage in 206 reservoirs of the state which is 51.58 per cent of the total storage capacity. At present, there are 6 reservoirs on high alert, 05 on alert and 12 reservoirs are on warning. Out of total 15 teams of NDRF, 7 teams have been deployed. Out of which 1-1 team has been deployed in Valsad, Surat, Navsari, Rajkot, Gir-Somnath, Junagadh and Kutch. And 2-Teams in Vadodara and 1-Team has been deployed in Gandhinagar.
Forest Department, Fisheries Department, Energy Department, Roads and Buildings Department, Health Department, GMB, Coast Guard, Urban Development and Urban Housing Department, GSRTC. Officials from ISRO, Byseg, Jalsanthi and Sardar Sarovar Nigam Ltd. joined the meeting and said they were fully prepared to deal with any monsoon situation.
