Weather alert: Early snow and excess rain grip North India, Punjab farmers hit hard

With western disturbances hitting north-west India, the region is experiencing widespread rains, leading to a significant post-monsoon surplus in precipitation during the first week of October.

Related news: Untimely rains in Punjab worry farmers, dampens spirits at Saras festival at PAU

Unseasonal rain damages crops, grain stock in Haryana; farmers seek relief

Major highways, roads closed due to heavy rain, snowfall in J-K

In Himachal Pradesh, the source of several rivers and streams and the catchment area of major dams, the rainfall this month so far has been surplus by 625 per cent, with the state receiving 25.7 mm rain from October 1 till October 7 against the long period average (LPA) of 0.9 mm for this period.

During the past 24 hours, Solan was the wettest district in the state, recording 38.8 mm rain, followed by Lahaul and Spiti with 36.3 mm and Kullu with 24.9 mm, according to data compiled by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Mean rainfall across the state was 2,753 per cent above the LPA.

Several areas in the upper reaches of the state also experienced snowfall over the past two days. Light rain is expected at isolated places and snow is possible at higher reaches on October 8 and 9, IMD said.

This month so far, rainfall has been surplus by 727 per cent in Punjab. From October 1 till the morning of October 7, the state received 20.7 mm rain compared to the LPA of 2.5 mm for this period.

Over the past 24 hours, most areas of Punjab received varying amounts of rainfall. At 24.3 mm, Pathankot received the highest amount of rain, followed by Mohali with 18.1 mm and Gurdaspur with 12.2 mm. Fazilka was the only district that remained dry.

In Haryana, where the October rains have been surplus by 529 per cent so far, light to moderate rain with thunderstorms and gusty winds were experienced in all districts. Mahendragarh was the wettest with 33.4 mm rain, followed by Yamunanagar with 30.6 mm and Palwal with 28 mm.

While fairly widespread light to moderate rain at many places and heavy falls at isolated places continued on October 7, the weather is likely to be dry in Punjab and Haryana from October 8 onwards. The maximum temperature in all three remained markedly below normal, while the minimum temperature was normal.

Besides the agricultural sector, the current spell of wet weather also has implications for inflows into major reservoirs in the region, where the water level is being kept several feet below the permissible upper limit to provide a cushion for any surge from heavy rainfall in the catchment areas.

In August-September, Pong Dam on the Beas had witnessed unprecedented inflows, with the water level remaining up to five feet above the upper limit for several weeks due to heavy rains. At Bhakra, the water level remained below the upper limit this year.

Pong is located in Kangra district, close to the border with Punjab. The dam’s catchment area lies across Kullu, Mandi and Kangra districts. According to IMD data, rainfall in October has been surplus by 721 percent in Kullu, 492 percent in Mandi and 496 percent in Kangra.

After entering India from Tibet, Sutlej, which feeds the reservoir at Bhakra Dam, flows through the districts of Kinnaur, Shimla, Mandi and Bilaspur, before moving into Punjab. October rains so far have been excess by 686 percent in Kinnaur, 514 percent in Shimla and 992 percent in Bilaspur.

Similarly, the Ravi river, which feeds the reservoir at Thein Dam in Punjab, flows through the Kangra and Chamba districts in Himachal and Pathankot, Gurdaspur and Amritsar districts in Punjab before entering Pakistan. These areas have also experienced surplus rains this month.