Mandvi taluka in Kutch district, Gujarat, received around 177 mm of rain in just eight hours on September 15, causing widespread waterlogging and disrupting normal life. Until then, the district had faced a 70% rainfall deficit. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on September 15 that several parts of Gujarat, along with Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, received heavy rainfall (120-200 mm).
Other districts of Gujarat have also seen heavy rain in just a few hours, especially in an El Niño year when rain deficit remains a major concern. Umergam in Valsad district of Gujarat received 1,064 mm of rain in just one day on July 23, the third-highest daily rainfall ever recorded in the country after Sohra (1,563.3 mm on June 16, 1995) and Aminidivi (1,168.5 mm on May 6, 2004), according to the IMD.
The region received such intense rainfall that the state government had to seek help from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). Some 352 people were rescued in South Gujarat, while over 22,000 people in Navsari and Valsad were shifted to safer locations.
Studies highlight such phenomena, especially in El Niño years. A study published in the journal Science in 2025 said that although El Niño events are known to suppress total summer rainfall throughout India, they increase the frequency of extreme daily rainfall events in certain regions. The study used data from 1901 to 2020 to reach this conclusion.
The study claimed that the broad Central Monsoon Zone in central India, and the narrow southwestern band between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats mountains of peninsular India, tend to get less overall rain and fewer rainy days during El Niño summers. But when the rain does come, it comes more intensely.
The finding is significant because some studies suggest El Niño frequency may increase in the future, while others suggest it may remain the same, but strong El Niño events may become more frequent.
This means extreme rainfall scenarios may also increase. India already ranks among the six most disaster-prone countries globally. In recent years, the frequency, intensity, and geographic spread of extreme weather events have increased sharply, reflecting climate change’s growing impact. Between 1993 and 2022, India witnessed 400 extreme weather events, causing 80,000 fatalities and $180 billion in losses, a report prepared for the 16th Finance Commission in 2025 said.
Banner image: Rains in central India. Representative image by Ms Sarah Welch via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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