Rajkot/Ahmedabad: Coastal Saurashtra and the districts of South Gujarat are bracing for heavy rain as the low-pressure system in the Arabian Sea off Karnataka is likely to intensify into a depression by Saturday.The India meteorological department (IMD) has forecast heavy rain with high-velocity winds in Bharuch, Surat, Dang, Navsari, Valsad, Tapi, Narmada, Anand, Chhota Udepur, Rajkot, Porbandar, Junagadh, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Gir Somnath and Diu until May 29."A low-pressure area over the east-central Arabian Sea near the south Konkan-Goa coast persists and is likely to move northwards, intensifying into a depression in the next 36 hours," the bulletin issued on Thursday evening states."The IMD has sounded a ‘yellow alert' for Surat, Tapi, Valsad, Dang, Navsari, Amreli and Bhavnagar," the govt said in a statement.In Gondal, which was pounded by heavy rain, a 48-year-old man, Shankarsinh Chauhan, died after being struck by lightning in Garnara village. Chauhan, a native of Rajasthan, was working on well-digging at a farm.On Thursday, parts of Amreli and Rajkot continued to experience a wet spell.

In the evening, the weather changed suddenly in Rajkot as strong winds and lightning caught citizens by surprise. Until the evening, Rajkot had been the hottest place in the state, with the mercury reaching 42.3 degrees celsius. Parts of Amreli district such as Vadia also got rain accompanied by gusting winds and hail.In the usually blistering summer month of May, Gujarat has so far had three spells of rain since May 3.

The wet weather is attributed to cyclonic circulations over Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, Met department officials said.Earlier this month, 17 people died in rain-related accidents across Gujarat, most of whom were struck by lightning or had walls and trees fall on them.From March 1 to May 22, the state received 42mm of rain, much higher than the long-term average of 2.5mm for this period.The worst affected districts are Amreli, Junagadh, Dang and Anand, all of which have got more than 80mm of rain.After the heavy rain warning, chief minister Bhupendra Patel directed district administrations in the affected regions to ensure round-the-clock operation of control rooms to monitor the situation.Control room started in SuratSurat: Following prediction of heavy rainfall, the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) on Thursday set up a control room at the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICC) to monitor the developing weather situation. The control room will continue to operate until the end of the monsoon. Personnel from all the key SMC departments have been deployed in the control room which will function round-the-clock. It will have members from departments like drainage, hydraulic, affordable housing, and others.

They will keep an eye on issues like waterlogging, damage to properties, and other incidents. Through CCTVs, monitoring of various locations in the city is possible at present from ICCC.