Ahmedabad, July 5 (ANI): Seeking an end to the continuing dry spell, Hindu priests on Sunday offered special prayers and fire ritual to appease the rain God in Ahmedabad.

Hindu seers performed ‘Parjanya Yagya,’ a special fire ritual for rain, as Gujarat faces an acute water shortage due to an uncertain monsoon.

“The smoke which erupted from this fire ritual goes up into the atmosphere and touches the clouds which cause rain and the rainfall in turn benefits humans and other species on the earth at large,” said Sameer Shastri, a priest.

Earlier on Friday, the meteorological department had said that the southwest monsoon, crucial for sowing of crops like paddy, oilseeds, sugarcane, cotton and pulses, had covered all parts of the country.

Rainfall during June 1 to July 1 was 92.2 mm, 46 percent below normal. The weather office has said that total rainfall for the crucial June-September monsoon would be only 93 percent of the long-term average, coming in below normal for the first time in four years. (ANI)