Western disturbance brings significantly excess rains in north-west India

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.

This month so far, rainfall has been surplus by 415 per cent in Punjab. From October 1 till the morning of October 6, the state received 11.9 mm rain compared to the long period average (LPA) of 2.3 mm for this period.

In the neighbouring states of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, rainfall during this period has been above the LPA by 248 per cent and 129 per cent, respectively, according to data compiled by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Over the past 24 hours, most areas of Punjab received varying amounts of rainfall. At 25.6 mm, Pathankot received the highest amount of rain, followed by Amritsar with 21.6 mm and Gurdaspur with 15.6 mm.

The current spell of wet weather, which is expected to continue in Punjab till October 7, 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.

At Pong Dam on the Beas river in Himachal Pradesh, the water level on Monday morning was 1,385.87 feet against the upper limit of 1,390 feet, while at Bhakra Dam on the Sutlej, it was 1,670.67 feet against the top mark of 1,680 feet.

In August-September, the Pong Dam 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 a massive 5,353 per cent in Kullu, 1,963 per cent in Mandi and 1,367 per cent in Kangra.

After entering India from Tibet, the Sutlej flows through the districts of Kinnaur, Shimla, Mandi and Bilaspur, before moving into Punjab. While October rains have been deficient by 73 per cent in Kinnaur, they have been excess by 554 per cent in Shimla and 1,417 per cent 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.

According to the IMD, most places in Himachal Pradesh are expected to receive light to moderate rain along with thunderstorms and lightning on October 7, with light rain expected at a few places on October 8.