Heavy rain, thunderstoms signal early monsoon in Gujarat, four die

SURAT/VADODARA: Heavy rain accompanied by gusty winds pounded Vadodara and Narmada districts on Sunday, signalling the early arrival of monsoon in Gujarat that has been singeing under unforgiving heat conditions for a long time now.
At least four people died, three near the pilgrimage town of Shuklatirth in Bharuch when a banyan tree crashed on a moving car and a rickshaw.The incident occurred near Jalaram Mandir of Tavra village at around 4pm when the car carrying five persons was going towards Bharuch and the rickshaw towards Shuklatirth.
Three of the five travelling in travelling in the car who died were identified as Hardik Patel and Hitesh Patel of Nava Borbhatha village in Ankleshwar. They had gone to play a cricket match near Nikora village along with their friends.
The woman occupant of the rickshaw was identified as Daksha Vasava, who was going to Zadeshwar. Two others in the rickshaw escaped with minor injuries.
Nabipur police reached the spot and shifted the injured to a hospital in Bharuch.
Due to the sudden weather change, one person also died in Vadodara. The Akota resident identified as Shankar Marwadi was standing on the ground located behind Akota village when he was struck by lightning.
His son Jayesh said that Shankar was returning home after it began raining heavily but was struck by lightning on the way. His body was shifted to the SSG Hospital for postmortem.
Vadodara and Narmada districts have also seen heavy showers coupled with lightning and thunderstorms.
Elsewhere, Barodians got a reprieve from the heat and welcomed the first shower.
Since Sunday morning, the city started witnessing cloudy weather and later sporadic rain which turned into heavy showers accompanied by thunderstorms.
Several parts of south Gujarat received pre-monsoon showers on Sunday - nine talukas received 10 mm or more rains till 6 pm with Dolvan in Tapi receiving 30 mm, and Tilakwada and Nandod in Narmada district receiving 28 mm and 20 mm rains respectively among others. In all, 18 talukas in Tapi, Narmada, Amreli, Bharuch, Surat, Bhavnagar, Chhota Udepur got rainfall.