Gujarat: Unseasonal Rain, Lightning Strikes Kill 20; Intense Hailstorm Turns Roads White

As many as 20 people lost their lives in lightning strikes amid unseasonal rains and intense hailstorm that turned roads white in Gujarat on Sunday. An official of the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said all of 20 rain-related deaths were attributed to lightning strikes during unseasonal rainfall which battered the state on Sunday.

Unseasonal rain triggered by western disturbance pounded almost all parts of Gujarat on Sunday, with the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) registering 20 deaths till 11 pm. Lightning strikes killed cattle and sheep in some places as well, officials said.

Of the 20 deaths, four took place in Dahod district, three in Bharuch, two in Tapi, and one each in Ahmedabad, Amreli, Banaskantha, Botad, Kheda, Mehsana, Panchmahal, Sabarkantha, Surat, Surendranagar and Devbhumi Dwarka, an SEOC official said.’

Director of IMD’s meteorological centre in Ahmedabad, Manorama Mohanty, said rainfall forecast was for Sunday only, adding that it will abate by Monday and remain concentrated in some parts of south Gujarat and Saurashtra districts.

The rains were being caused due to a cyclonic circulation lying over northeast Arabian Sea and adjoining Saurashtra and Kutch regions, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Apart from light rains forecast for Monday in some parts of south Gujarat and Saurashtra districts, the state is expected to experience dry weather from Tuesday onwards, as per IMD.

According to SEOC data, as many as 234 out of 252 talukas of Gujarat received rainfall on Sunday, with Surat, Surendranagar, Kheda, Tapi, Bharuch and Amreli districts recording 50-117 mm rainfall in 16 hours.

Rains and hailstorms hit Rajkot and Morbi as well. While people were seen rejoicing the hailstorm as it turned streets white, heavy showers affected the ceramic industry of Morbi district, with factories forced to remain shut.

Union minister Amit Shah in a post on X on Sunday night said, “I am deeply saddened by the news of the death of many people due to bad weather and lightning in various cities of Gujarat. I express my deepest condolences for the irreparable loss to those who lost their loved ones in this tragedy. The local administration is engaged in relief work, praying for the speedy recovery of the injured.”

Parts of Rajasthan also on Sunday received intense hailstorm.

A trough in easterly winds forming over the state on Sunday and a western disturbance being active in the upper levels of the atmosphere was attributed for the rain with thunder and hailstorm in parts of Rajasthan.