Forecast falls flat, region gets excess rain

Karam Prakash

New Delhi, July 19

Against the Indian Meteorological Department’s prediction of normal to below normal rainfall, the northwest region has received excess rainfall during the ongoing monsoon season.

Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh have already been facing flashfloods, landslides and damage to infrastructure due to excess rainfall.

Until July 19, Punjab received 56 per cent excess rainfall from the long period average (LPA), Himachal 86 per cent, and Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi 67 per cent. The IMD data reveals 15 of 23 districts in Punjab; all districts in Himachal; seven of nine in Delhi; and 18 of 22 in Haryana have received excess rainfall in this season.

In its monthly outlook for July, the IMD had predicted: “Below normal rainfall is most likely over many areas of northwest, northeast and southeast peninsular India.”

Yellow alert issued

The IMD has issued a yellow alert for moderate & fairly widespread rainfall with isolated heavy rain in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal on July 22 and 23

As per the IMD data, Punjab has already received 234.66 mm of rainfall against the LPA of 148 mm. Neighbouring Himachal, which saw the most devastation due to heavy rain, has received 460.5 mm rainfall against the LPA of 240.7 mm between June 1 and July 19.

In the extended range forecast for the next two weeks (July 6-19) issued on July 6, the IMD had said, “Overall, rainfall activity is likely to be above normal over central India and normal to above normal over south Peninsular India and northwest India (except Western Himalayan Region and Punjab, where it is likely to be below normal).”