Monsoon to end in Gujarat; dams in Saurashtra, Kutch 70% empty

AHMEDABAD: Dams in Saurashtra and Kutch region of Gujarat are far from full with close to 70 per cent of them being empty, even as monsoon is withdrawing from the state which is likely to cause huge drinking water problem in these two regions.

Though there was good rainfall in the latter half of the season the deficit of water in the dams has remained high, state flood control cell officials said.

The official data put out by the Flood Control Cell, Gandhinagar states that in Saurashtra dams have only 17.77 per cent water against their total capacity while in Kutch, dams have 36.04 per cent water. In North Gujarat, 70.96 per cent of the dams are full.

Meanwhile, the total rainfall deficit in Gujarat this season has been 30 per cent. The state received more rains in the first and second week of September owing to active developments in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, Indian Meteorological Department ( IMD) Additional director Manorama Mohanty told PTI today.

Mohanty said the monsoon will withdraw from the state in next two or three days.

He said the weakness in Arabian Sea in the month of July was responsible for less rainfall during that month and contributed to this season's deficit.

Gujarat has so far received 444.1 mm rainfall against the normal 637 mm rainfall calculated during the intervening period from June 1 to September 22, the IMD website said.

The deficit has been highest in the Saurashtra-Kutch sub-divisional region which comprises eight districts and one Union Territory (Diu) on the western coast.

The region, dependent on farming, received 35 per cent less rainfall in the intervening period.

Against the normal 459.2 mm rainfall, the Saurashtra-Kutch region received only 297.4 mm rains.

In Saurashtra-Kutch sub-divisional region, Porbandar, with a whoppingly high 70 per cent deficit, had the highest rain shortage and Jamnagar, with 22 per cent deficit, had the least rain shortage.

The other sub-division, Gujarat region, which consists of the remaining 18 districts and two Union Territories namely Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman, received 27 per cent less rains than the normal.

The Gujarat region received 636.8 mm rainfall against the normal 872.9 mm rainfall during the intervening period.

Sabarkantha in North Gujarat received 4 per cent excess rainfall this season while Bharuch's deficit during the intervening period was 49 per cent.