The monsoon rains this year remained deficient as the season bids adieu to the region in September.
According to the Met Department, Punjab and Haryana has recorded a rain deficit of 31 and 37 per cent respectively during this monsoon. Chandigarh—the joint capital city of Punjab and Haryana has recorded a monsoon rainfall deficit of 35 per cent.
The monsoon season in the region begins with the onset of rains in June and ends in September.
The monsoon has withdrawn from the region on September 29, said Surender Paul, Director Chandigarh Meteorological Department while talking to The Pioneer.
The city received 548.3mm of rainfall during monsoon period against 844.2 mm normal with overall deficit of 35 per cent. The rain deficit was 47 per cent in June, 9 per cent in July, 62 per cent in August and 24 per cent in September in Chandigarh.
Surrender Pail said that this year, the monsoon had arrived in the region in the last week of June. In Chandigarh, this was the second deficit monsoon year in row which occurred after 23 years. Earlier deficit years in row were in year 1991-92 for monsoon rainfall data from the year 1971-2015.
As per the Met Department, the neighboring Haryana received 288.4 mm of rainfall during monsoon period against 461 mm normal with overall deficit of 37 percent while Punjab received 358 mm of rainfall against 491.5 mm normal recording deficit of 31 per cent.
This was the fourth deficit monsoon year in row in Haryana for rainfall data from 1901-2015. In Punjab, rainfall deficit for consecutive years which occurred this year is after 50 years (data from 1901-2015) as earlier one was in year 1964-1965 in the State, stated the Met Department.
In Haryana, 19 district received deficit to scanty rainfall with Rohtak, Fatehabad and Mahendergarh receiving lowest rainfall during this monsoon. The district where deficit is more than 50 per cent are Mahendergarh, Rohtak, Fatehabad, Kaithal and Kurukshtra while only two districts namely Faridabad and Gurgaon received normal rainfall.
As many as 13 districts of Punjab received deficit to scanty rainfall while deficit of more than 50 per cent was recorded in Ferozpur, Jalandhar and Mansa district. Only six districts of Punjab received normal rainfall namely Bathinda, Fatehgarh Sahib, Gurdaspur, Kapurthala, ludhiana and SAS Nagar Mohali. last year, the monsoon rainfall was less than 50 per cent of its normal rains in the two neighboring States and the union territory of Chandigarh.
During monsoon 2014, Punjab had recorded 243.4 mm rains against normal of 491.5 mm and Haryana witnessed 199.4 mm rains against normal of 460.4 mm rainfall.
This was the highest rain deficit during monsoon after the year 1987, which saw 67.6 per cent rain deficit in Punjab, 63.6 per cent in Haryana and 67 per cent rain deficit in Chandigarh.