Parts of Gujarat remained on edge on August 1, 2026, as the India Meteorological Department kept a red alert in place for four districts — Ahmedabad, Anand, Surendranagar and Rajkot — over heavy to extremely heavy rainfall.
An orange alert applies to 12 other districts, including Banaskantha, Vav-Tharad, Patan, Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Gandhinagar, Aravalli, Bharuch, Bhavnagar, Morbi, Botad and Kutch, where isolated heavy to extremely heavy rain is forecast.
The alert list has shrunk compared with July 31, when 13 districts — Vadodara, Narmada, Chhota Udepur, Surat, Tapi, Dang, Navsari and Valsad among them — were under red alert, prompting school and college shutdowns in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Anand and Kheda.
Anganwadis across Ahmedabad will remain closed until August 3, officials said, even as the city’s red-alert status carries into a second consecutive day.
Disaster management teams across the state remain on high alert, coordinating pumping and rescue resources in areas prone to waterlogging.
The IMD expects the rain to ease from August 2, when eight districts are forecast to be downgraded to a yellow alert.
Disaster management authorities in the affected districts have been placed on standby, with local administrations coordinating rescue teams and pumping equipment in low-lying areas prone to waterlogging.
Gujarat has seen an active monsoon through late July, with several districts already recording rainfall well above the seasonal average for this point in the year.
The state government has asked district collectors in affected regions to keep emergency helplines active and to coordinate with the State Emergency Operation Centre through the alert period.
The IMD’s warning system uses a four-colour scale of green, yellow, orange and red, with red reserved for extremely heavy rainfall that requires immediate action from local authorities and the public.
Fishermen along the Gujarat coast have been advised not to venture into the sea during the alert period, as the same weather system bringing heavy rain has also stirred up rough conditions offshore.
Photo by Rakesh Krishna Kumar, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
