Residents of Ahmedabad experienced a sudden change in weather on Monday as, cold winds and a cloudy atmosphere prevailed in the city. Some parts of Gujarat, including western Saurashtra and Kutch, witnessed light to moderate showers. The unseasonal showers ruined the crops of cumin, wheat, cotton and groundnut. At many places, the rain lasted for more than half an hour.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast that there will be no change in minimum temperature on Tuesday but Wednesday onwards, there can be a drop of 2-3 degrees Celsius. Sporadic rainfall was reported from Devbhoomi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Morbi and Kutch districts on Monday. Groundnut farmers, who had spread their produce for weighing at the Khambhalia market yard, made representations before the collectorate as the showers had ruined their produce.
“The groundnut ruined by the rain cannot be sold and the government will not give us compensation for it. Therefore, we made a representation before the collectorate,” said a farmer from Khambhalia. According to IMD officials, the change in weather was due to a western disturbance.
“It caused an upper-air cyclonic circulation over western Rajasthan and neighbouring Gujarat extending up to 1.5km above mean sea level. Cloudy atmosphere will be experienced in some parts of Gujarat but the disturbance will shift eastwards. Thus, there are less chances of rainfall,” said Jayanta Sarkar, regional director, IMD. Naliya recorded the minimum temperature of 11.8C followed by Gandhinagar (12.4 degrees), Ahmedabad (12.7 degrees), Surendranagar (13.2 degrees) and Deesa (14.1 degrees). IMD officials said that after Uttarayan, Gujarat generally experiences warmer climate.
This article was originally published on www.timesofindia.com.
