Hyderabad: The first week of July was no better for the state than June in terms of monsoon rains. The deficit remained at 35 mm. According to the Indian Meterological Department (IMD), the state should receive 175 mm rainfall at this time. This year, rainfall measured 114.6 mm. Weather experts said that the monsoon is still weak over the southern peninsula due to the formation of a low pressure area in the Bay of Bengal. The city is in deficit as well, receiving 122.4 mm of rainfall against the normal of 135.6 mm. All the districts in the state are in deficit, except for Karimnagar and Komaram Bheem.
Mr Mahesh Phalawat of Skymet, the private weather forecasting agency, said that the monsoon is still weak in south India. “Interior Karnataka, Vidarbha and some parts of Telangana have received very few showers,” he said. A low pressure area was developing over the Bay of Bengal and would intensify into a well marked low.
“The earlier anticipation was that the monsoon would move in a westerly direction and affect Telangana state as well as Chhattisgarh and Vidarbha, but it has moved in a west-northwest direction. It did not cover Telangana so the state is rainfall deficit.”
He said good rains are expected only after a week. Till then the state may experience prolonged light showers or moderate rainfall.
The monsoon deficiency nationwide which was 33 per cent at the start of the month has dipped to 21 per cent, the IMD said. Despite this, three-fourths of the IMD’s sub-meteorological divisions are still in the “deficient” rainfall category. No sub-division in the country recorded “large deficiency”.
According to the Central Water Commission, of the 91 major reservoirs in the country, 62 reported 80 per cent or below of normal storage. The IMD has four divisions which are divided into 36 sub-divisions.
Twenty-four have received “deficient” rainfall. The deficiency was highest in east and northeast India at 36 per cent, followed by 30 per cent in the southern peninsula. The data also indicates that central India has received fairly good rainfall over the last week. East and northeast divisions of the IMD comprising the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and all north-eastern states reported deficient rainfall.
The monsoon has almost covered the entire country. The IMD said, “The northern limit of the monsoon continues to pass through Barmer, Jodhpur, Sikar, Rohtak, Chandigarh, Una and Amritsar. Conditions are becoming favourable for further advance of the southwest monsoon into the remaining parts of Haryana, Punjab and some more parts of Rajasthan.
