Rain, hailstorm in Ahmedabad wreak havoc, IPL final rescheduled for today

The IPL final match has been rescheduled for Monday evening.

The heavy showers also prompted the opening of four gates of the Vasna Barrage at 7 pm; about 6,000 cusecs of water was released into the Sabarmati River, officials said. On one of the busiest Vaishno Devi intersections on the Sarkhej Gandhinagar Highway, the underpass towards Zundal was closed due to waterlogging. This led to heavy traffic jams on both SG Highway and Sardar Patel Ring Road at around 9 pm.

Apart from flooding, fallen trees also triggered snarls on some key routes. Around 75 complaints of uprooting and falling of trees were reported by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) control room by Sunday night. Thirty-five trees were uprooted in the West Zone, followed by 14 in South Zone, 12 in Northwest Zone, and 9 in Central Zone. Areas including Vastrapur, Manekbaug, Narol, Juhapura, Bopal and Vejalpur reported heavy hail accompanied by showers. In some parts of the city, streetlights stopped working briefly.

While the Chandkheda area in the West Zone recorded the highest rain at 98 mm in four hours (between 6 and 10 pm); Ranip in West Zone received 96 mm; Jodhpur received 86.5 mm followed by Sarkhej (80.5 mm), followed by Bopal and Maktampura (86 mm) – all in South West Zone. Gota and Chandlodiya in the Northwest Zone received 92 mm and 86.5 mm respectively while Bodakdev and Science City in the same zone too received heavy rain at 90.50 mm and 84.5 mm respectively. Usmanpura in the West Zone recorded 91.5 mm till 10 pm. Among the zones, West Zone recorded the highest rain at 89.25 mm in four hours. This was followed by the Northwest Zone (88.38 mm), and South Zone (84.75 mm). The Central Zone recorded 74.5 mm, the South Zone 66 mm, and the East Zone 54.67 mm while the North Zone recorded least rain at 50.67 mm.

In Gandhinagar, an event of self-styled godman Dhirendra Shastri of Bageshwar Dham was cancelled. The event was organised by Guru Vandana Manch, an organisation founded by former IPS officer DG Vanzara. The event was supposed to start at 4 pm. The rain started before the arrival of Bageshwar Dham chief, who was already running late. He arrived later in the evening but left when the event could not be held. Hundreds of people and seers from different parts of the state had come for the event.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted rain in various parts of the state on Monday and Tuesday. “Light thunderstorm with lightning and surface wind 30- 40 kmph (in gust) accompanied with light to moderate rain very likely in the districts of North Gujarat region namely Banaskantha, Sabarkantha, Panchmahal, and Dahod; in the districts of Saurashtra namely Rajkot, Amreli, and Bhavnagar,” the forecast read.

The weather department has also issued a thunderstorm alert with lightning and strong winds of 30- 40 kmph (in gust) accompanied in North Gujarat and Saurashtra.

On May 30, light thunderstorms with lightning and surface wind of 30- 40 kmph (in gust), accompanied by light to moderate rain, are very likely at isolated places in the districts of North Gujarat region namely Banaskantha and Sabarkantha, the IMD forecast added.