Junagadh District Monsoon News

Gujarat gets pre-monsoon showers.

Amid worries of a delayed monsoon, large parts of Gujarat have received pre-monsoon showers in the 24 hours to Tuesday afternoon, an official said here.

A total of 56 sub-districts in 17 districts have witnessed pre-monsoon activity with rains ranging from 3 mm to 10 cm being received during the period, the agriculture department official said.

He said Kaparda sub-district in south Gujarat had received the maximum of 10 cm of rain during the period raising hopes of a fresh sowing season if more rains are received in the next 72 hours.

However, most districts that received pre-monsoon showers are in Saurastra region, mainly Junagadh, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Amreli, Surendranagar and Porbandar.

In particular, the drought-prone Kutch district has not received any pre-monsoon showers and most reservoirs in the desert region have very little water left.

Most check dams in the state also have on average only 20 percent of water left, he adde .

The specter of a draught still lingers in the minds of the Gujarat farmers if the pre-monsoon showers do not continue for another one week before the arrival of the monsoons, the official said.

Junagadh News- Girnar Mountain Parvat Parikrama 2011

Girnar Parikrama registers record number of devotees.

More than one million devotees have already participated in Girnar Mountain(Parvat)'s annual Parikrama during the last five days, the highest figure in the history of the event.

According to forest officials, while 10 lakh people have already completed the 36-km-long Girnar Parvat Parikrama, a huge number of devotees are still visiting the place from across the state.

M R Vyas, Junagadh ST depot manager, said, “We are running more than hundred extra services to different destinations across Saurashtra(Kathiyavad) region."

According to Vyas, state transport buses are ferrying over one lakh passengers every day from the Junagadh(Saurastra) depot.

Railway officials said, on an average, 20,000 people have used the Railways as the means of transport in the last five days alone.

In order to ensure a comfortable journey to the people, railway officials, along with a local NGO, have started ‘Annashetra’ (free food facility) for passengers. Around 70 ‘Annashetras’ have been opened along the Parikrama route.