Tarpaulin sheets covering marketplaces and embankments built along the Sabarmati,hint at one thing: that Ahmedabad is gearing up for the monsoons. The weatherman has predicted timely arrival of rains and change of weather shortly. According to the director in-charge at the citys India Meteorological Department (IMD),Dr Kamaljit Ray,monsoons will arrive on June 15,as expected. In a few days or maybe weeks,overhead clouds would form by early evening,and half hour pre-monsoon thundershowers will lash the city at night. Coupled with breeze from the Arabian Sea,night temperatures may fall. Days,however,will remain hot at around 43 degrees,but will be more humid with less wind. These day-night weather changes will last for at least a week,perhaps two,said Dr Ray. Although monsoon has already arrived in Kerala,a week earlier than predicted,initial forecasts predicted an early rainy season for the country. The development of Cyclone Aila in the Bay of Bengal which has killed at least two people,forced thousands to flee and grounded Kolkatas public transport system has blown the winds towards the east,postponing its northward journey towards central India,and subsequently Gujarat,bringing it back to schedule. Urban Gujarat may have to gear up for floods,as the pattern in the last few years has been of excessive rainfall. Ahmedabad district,in fact,is expected to receive 100 millimetres more than the expected state average of 650 to 700 millimetres this monsoon. The Sabarmati may,therefore,flood,and residents may yet again witness last years SMS relays telling people to avoid driving through them. In rural Gujarat,farmers are harvesting summer crops and have started ploughing their fields in preparation for the rains. Our expectations are very high, said Dr A M Sheikh,Principal and Dean,BA College of Agriculture under the Anand Agricultural University. The IMD office at Ahmedabad says there is nothing to fear this year. The heaviest showers are expected during July and August,but will remain mostly sporadic. But according to Dr Ray,weather has touched extremes in the last decade: Nalia in Kutch district almost froze at 0.4 degrees on February 7 last year,and Dhanduka in north Gujarat received 550 mm rain in a single day in August last year. Both were the first instances in the states history,perhaps due to climatic change, said Dr Ray.
