The agrarian States of Punjab and Haryana and their joint capital — Chandigarh — continue to receive scanty rainfall recording more than 50 per cent rain deficit during the ongoing monsoon season.
According to the Meteorological Department, Chandigarh has received 221.1 mm rains from June to August 8, recording rainfall deficit of – 227.6 mm rains.
During 2013 monsoon, Chandigarh had received 825 mm rains against normal rains of 788 mm, with 37 mm surplus monsoon rainfall.
On the other hand, most of the districts of Haryana and Punjab have recorded high rainfall deficiency from June 1 to August 8.
In Haryana, the districts namely Bhiwani, Rewari, Panchkula, Fatehabad, Ambala among others are badly hit due to poor monsoon rains. Various parts of Haryana have recorded rain deficit of upto 86 per cent.
The Meteorological Department’s data shows high rains deficiency of -86 per cent in Bhiwani, -76 in Panchkula, -77 per cent in Rewari, –75 per cent in Kurukshetra, -72 per cent in Fatehabad, -75 in Ambala, - 72 per cent in Gurgaon.
The district Kaithal recorded least rainfall deficiency of -11 per cent followed by -21 per cent in Faridabad and -29 per cent in Hisar.
Similarly, the rainfall deficit of upto 85 per cent was recorded in parts of Punjab.
The districts with high rainfall deficit are SAS Nagar (Mohali) with -85 per cent, Ropar with – 80 per cent, Fatehgarh Sahib with -74 per cent and Mansa with – 71 per cent. Amritsar district of Punjab recorded least rainfall deficit of -30 per cent followed by -31 per cent in Sangrur and -33 per cent in Faridkot.
In 2013, Punjab received 468.4 mm rains against normal of 457.7 mm with 2 per cent surplus downpour while Haryana had witnessed rain deficit of 27 per cent recording 320.4 mm rains against normal rains of 438.3 mm.
According to the Met Department forecast, rain/thundershowers may occur at some places in Rewari, Mahendergarh, Gurgoan and Jhajjar district of Haryana. light to moderate rain/thundershowers would occur at few parts of the state in next 24 hours.
“In Punjab, rain/thundershowers may occur at some places in Sangrur, Patiala, Amritsar, Rupnagar, SAS Nagar, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Kapurthala and Jalandhar districts,” predicted Met Department.
Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana is likely to witness overcast conditions in next 24 hours. A Met official said that light to moderate rains are expected in the region during the weekend. However, the monsoon rainfall will remain below normal this year.
The south-west monsoon had reached the region on July 1 and 2. last year, the monsoon had arrived in the region on June 16, while in the year 2012, the monsoon reached here on July 6.