24 KILLED IN LIGHTNING STRIKES AMID UNSEASONAL RAINS IN INDIA’S GUJARAT

Mon 27 October 2023:

Twenty four people have been killed in lightning strikes in different parts of Gujarat during widespread unseasonal rainfall in the state, an official said Monday.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah condoled the deaths due to bad weather and lightning in various cities of Gujarat on Sunday and said the local administration was engaged in relief work.

All the fatalities were attributed to lightning strikes during unseasonal rainfall which battered the state on Sunday.

Four persons died 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, the SEOC official said.

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.”

The rains caused damage to houses and loss of cattle across the state. At least 40 animals were also killed.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said the rain activity is expected to abate on Monday.

As per the 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, throwing normal life out of gear and causing crop damage.

Hailstorms hit some parts of Rajkot, while locals were seen rejoicing the scene created by the sudden showers.

Apart from causing crop damage, the rainfall also affected the ceramic industry of Morbi district in Saurashtra region as factories were forced to remain shut, officials said.

IMD’s Ahmedabad centre director Manorama Mohanty said rains will abate on 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 north east Arabian sea and adjoining Saurashtra and Kutch regions, the IMD said in its bulletin.

Gujarat is not unfamiliar with rain-related calamities, but such big rainstorms are not expected in the state during winter months, and fierce downpours caught many off guard.

In August 2020, 14 people died in the state over just two days in various incidents related to heavy rains and flooding. A year previously, in August 2019, 31 people died in the state in rain-related incidents.

While flash floods and lightning kill dozens of people in India each year, scientists warn that rising global temperatures are unleashing a cascade of extreme weather events.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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