NEW DELHI: July is set to end with 9-10% excess rain across the country during the month, taking the season’s total so far to 2% above normal. However, the monsoon’s distribution remains somewhat skewed, with central and south India having received bountiful rain and the country’s northwest and east so far staring at big deficits.
At the midway stage of rainy season, 36% of India’s districts — 267 of 742 — have received deficient or ‘large deficient’ rains, as per IMD’s data till July 30.These include all districts of Jharkhand (24) and Gangetic Bengal (15), 33 of 38 districts of Bihar, 19 of 22 districts each in Punjab and Haryana, five of nine in Delhi, nine of 12 in Himachal & 15 of 20 in J&K.
Among the deficit districts, 232 have so far reported deficient rainfall (from 20% to 59% below normal) and 35 have seen ‘large deficient’ rain with deficits of 60% or more. This apart, 245 districts have so far reported normal rainfall and 230 received excess or large excess.
In the rainfall map, the deficit districts are largely bunched around two regions — one in eastern India and another in the northwest, which reveals that rainfall has been consistently poor in these regions. Smaller groupings of deficit districts are seen in south Rajasthan and across several areas of the northeast.
“These areas are largely dry partly because of poor rainfall in June, which ended with a countrywide deficit of 11%. Also, in July, monsoon trough has mostly been south of its normal position, which generally brings bountiful rainfall to central India but may leave deficits in northwest and areas like Bihar, Jharkhand and Gangetic Bengal,” said M Rajeevan, veteran meteorologist and former secretary at the Union ministry of earth sciences.
With the monsoon having been in active phase for over a month now, experts say a period of lull is expected in Aug.
Gurgaon and most of Haryana faced a significant monsoon rainfall deficit in July, with only six out of 22 districts meeting normal levels. The Indian Meteorological Department linked this to a delayed La Nina formation, affecting the monsoon’s strength. Experts recommended contingency plans and adaptive strategies to support affected farmers and mitigate water scarcity.
Madhya Pradesh saw significant rainfall improvement over the past few days, reducing rain deficit areas from 18 districts on July 11 to just five by July 25. The state has received a surplus 7% rainfall compared to the normal amount. Experts predict continued rainfall, forecasting the monsoon to be close to 110% of normal levels this year.
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