Heavy rains in Himachal flooded Punjab plains while state remained heavily rain-deficient in August

Vijay Mohan

Chandigarh, August 30

Even as many parts of Punjab were inundated by floods due to overflowing rivers, monsoon in the entire state during the month of August was severely deficient. After receiving good rains in the first half of the season, the monsoon has slipped below par towards the end of the month.

From August 1 to August 20, the state received 55.30 mm rain against the long period average of 143.90 mm for this period, accounting for a deficiency of 62 per cent, according to data compiled by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Heavy rains in some areas of neighbouring Himachal Pradesh during August had resulted in excess inflow into two crucial dams, Bhakra on the Sutlej and Pong on the Beas, forcing authorities to open the flood gates to discharge excess water.

Coming down from Himachal Pradesh, both Sutlej and Beas flow across several districts in the plains of Punjab, large tracts of which are prone to floods. During the current spell of floods, as many as 20 out of the 23 districts in the state were affected.

Ferozepur, Tarn Taran, Jalandhar, Patiala, Fazilka, Gurdaspur and Kapurthala were among the worst hit, requiring the requisition of the armed forces and disaster management agencies to deal with the situation.

During this period, Fazilka recorded a rain deficit of 99 per cent while in neighbouring Ferozepur, from where the Sutlej flows into Pakistan, the deficit was 76 per cent. The shortfall was 72 per cent in Patiala, 69 per cent in Tarn Tara, 55 per cent in Kapurthala and 35 per cent in Jalandhar.

The entire Malwa belt and a large part of Majha area were heavily rain deficient with Faridkot district remaining totally dry during this period and the shortfall remaining above 90 per cent in several other districts. Pathankot, where the rain was nine per cent below normal, was the wettest district in the state during August.

August rains have been below par in Himachal Pradesh and Haryana by two percent and 59 per cent, respectively. Himachal received 247.50 mm against the normal of 251.70 mm, while Haryana received 58.40 mm against the normal of 143.90 mm, IMD data shows.

As far as the entire monsoon season is concerned, rain in Punjab since June 1 has been two per cent below normal. On the other hand, rains during this period in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh have been 33 per cent above normal, while in Haryana they have been eight per cent above normal. The monsoon season covers a period of about four months from June to September.