As monsoon withdraws, Punjab & Haryana receive deficient rainfall

Chandigarh, October 1 

The south-west monsoon has withdrawn from Punjab and Haryana, leaving the two states with deficit rainfall, the meteorological department said on Thursday.

Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, also received 7 per cent less rains, an official of Chandigarh's Meteorological Department said here.

With the withdrawal of monsoon from the grain bowl states of Punjab and Haryana on September 30, the weather department recorded scanty rains by 17 per cent and 14 per cent in the two states, respectively.

Between June 1 and September 30, Punjab received rainfall of 387.6 mm against a normal of 467.3 mm, leaving a deficit of 17 per cent.

In comparison, the neighbouring state of Haryana received 376.1 mm rains against a normal of 438.6 mm, leaving a deficit of 14 per cent, a MeT official said.

Chandigarh received 791.1 mm rains as against normal of 846.5 mm, with the deficit being 7 per cent, he said.

Notably, the country received above-normal monsoon rainfall during the four-month season for the second consecutive year and recorded the third highest precipitation in the last 30 years, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had said on Wednesday.

The monsoon season in India officially starts on June 1 and lasts till September 30.

Among the places in Haryana which received scanty rains between June 1-30 period included Panchkula, which saw 322.2 mm rains as against normal of 925 mm, leaving a big deficit 65 per cent.

Rohtak witnessed 215.9 mm of rain against a normal of 502 mm, with the deficit being 57 per cent. Ambala saw 547 mm rain against a normal of 850.4 mm, leaving a deficit of 36 per cent, the MeT official said.

However, according to the official, places including Sirsa, Kaithal, Karnal, Fatehabad, Gurgaon and Kurukshetra had excess rainfall of 43 per cent, 35 per cent, 29 per cent, 2 per cent, 1 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively.

Hoshiarpur in Punjab saw 265.6 mm rain against the normal of 674.8 mm, leaving a deficit of 61 per cent, the weatherman said.

Mansa recorded 136.4 mm rain against 301.1 mm, less by 55 per cent, while Tarn Taran had 167 mm rain against normal of 315.1 mm, less by 47 per cent. Amritsar witnessed 380.9 mm rainfall against normal of 506.9 mm, leaving a deficit of 25 per cent, according to the official.

Ludhiana saw 337.3 mm rain against normal of 486.2 mm, less by 31 per cent, while Patiala had 392.6 mm rain against normal of 563.1 mm, a deficit of 30 per cent.

However, Punjab's districts which had more than average rainfall during the June 1-30 period included Faridkot, which saw 75 per cent rains in excess, while Muktsar recorded 34 per cent more rains, the MeT official added.—PTI

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