Hyderabad: South India is facing the highest deficit of rainfall in the pre-monsoon in the country. SkyMet, a private weather forecaster, said in its report that South Indian states are facing 47 per cent rain deficit which is the highest in the country.
The pre-monsoon lasts from March to May
As per the records of SkyMet, these disquieting figures are similar to 2009 when the country witnessed a drought.
The other divisions of the country, the North-west, Central, East, and Northeast recorded deficit of 30, 18 and 14 per cent respectively.
As per the report, this year has been the second driest pre monsoon season in the last 65 years; the lowest before this was in 2012 when nationwide rainfall deficiency had mounted to 31 per cent.
“Pre-monsoon rains in 2019 have performed the same as in 2009 where 25 per cent lag was noted in both the years. The prominent similarities between the two years are that they have been El Nino years. Thus, rains have been reacting in a somewhat identical pattern,” said SkyMet.
El Nino is linked to the periodic warming in sea surface temperatures of Pacific waters.
The Indian Meteoro-logical Department (IMD) said that this year India has seen 25 per cent deficiency in pre monsoon rainfall between May 1 and May 31.
Dr T. Pratima, principal scientist from Acharya N.G. Ranga Rao Agriculture University, talking about the importance of the season, said, “Pre monsoons give extra time to our farmers for preparation of paddy, groundnut and sugarcane. In the past few years, there is a gradual decrease which is leaving farmers with difficulties and they have to rely on groundwater.”
The rain report issued by the Indian Meteoro-logical Department shows that states most hit by the deficit of rainfall are Telangana state. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Gujarat, Jhar-khand, Karnataka, and Rajasthan. This is going to affect 500 million people, according to an expert.
