The India Meteorological Department has issued a red alert for four districts in Gujarat — Ahmedabad, Anand, Surendranagar and Rajkot — on August 1, 2026, as heavy to extremely heavy rain continues to affect the state.
An orange alert is in force for 12 more districts, including Banaskantha, Vav-Tharad, Patan, Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Gandhinagar, Aravalli, Bharuch, Bhavnagar, Morbi, Botad and Kutch, where isolated heavy to extremely heavy rain is expected.
The alert list has narrowed since July 31, when 13 districts — including Vadodara, Narmada, Chhota Udepur, Surat, Tapi, Dang, Navsari and Valsad — were under red alert, forcing schools and colleges to close in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Anand and Kheda.
Anganwadis in Ahmedabad will remain closed until August 3, district authorities confirmed, even as the city stays under red alert for a second consecutive day.
The state’s disaster management machinery remains on high alert, with officials coordinating relief operations in districts at risk of waterlogging and flooding.
The IMD expects conditions to ease from August 2, when eight districts are forecast to be downgraded to a yellow alert as the weather system moves on.
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.
The India Meteorological Department has attributed the spell of heavy rain to an active monsoon system moving across the western coast, a pattern it has tracked closely through the final week of July.
Photo by Rakesh Krishna Kumar, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
