After surplus rain in June and six per cent deficiency in the first two weeks of July, the country could see above normal rainfall over northern, eastern and north eastern parts of India till July end. Rainfall is also expected to increase over central parts in the beginning of August.
According to the data released by India Meteorological Department (IMD), the monthly rainfall over the country as whole is likely to be 92 per cent of the normal during July and 90 per cent of the average during August. The country has so far received 280.8 mm of rain with 6 per cent deficit.
The reservoirs in the country are 33 per cent full which is better than the corresponding period in the last year in the country as a whole and is also better than the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period.
As per the official figures of IMD, 12 per cent of the country has received surplus rain, 67 per cent has received normal rainfall and 21 per cent has received scanty rainfall.
The IMD data states that north-west India, with a total rainfall of above 188.7 mm is heading in the country with a surplus of 15 per cent. All the other regions in the country are facing deficit with Central India trailing the most in the country with 13 per cent. South peninsula has received 230 mm of rain as against the normal of 262.2 mm, registering a shortfall of 12 per cent. The eastern and north-eastern part of the country indicates 6 per cent deficit.
The agency has, however, predicted that many parts of North-East, foothills of the Himalayas and parts of central India will experience good rainfall for the next 12-15 days. Parts of northern region will also receive rainfall in the coming days due to western disturbances (WD).
According to weather scientists, the WD is lying over north Pakistan, Jammu & Kashmir, and neighbouring regions. A low pressure area also exists over north Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Further, an upper air cyclonic circulation over the coastal areas of Gangetic West Bengal and Odisha is expected to lead to the formation of a low pressure area during the next 48 hours. As a result, major parts of North-East, including Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Gangetic West Bengal, parts of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka are expected to receive heavy rainfall in the next few days.
Meanwhile, the storage capacity of 91 important reservoirs across the country stands at 51.22 Billion Cubic Metre (BCM) which is 33 per cent of total storage capacity. According to the official figures from the Ministry of Water Resources, this storage is 133 per cent more than the storage in the corresponding period in the last year and 112 per cent of storage of average of last ten years.
The northern region, having six reservoirs with total storage capacity of 18.01 Billion Cubic Metre (BCM), has a record 9.28 BCM water storage, which is 52 per cent of total storage capacity of these reservoirs. This is followed by the figures in the eastern region having 15 reservoirs with a total storage capacity of 18.83 BCM. As per the official data, the total storage available in these reservoirs is 7.66 BCM, which is 41 per cent of total storage capacity of these reservoirs.
The central region figures next having 12 reservoirs with a total storage capacity of 42.30BCM. The total storage available in these reservoirs is 15.10 BCM which is 36 per cent of total storage capacity of these reservoirs.
The reservoirs in the southern and eastern region in the country on the other hand are 26 per cent and 24 per cent full of the net storage capacity. The southern region, however, has the maximum of 31 reservoirs having total storage capacity of 51.59 BCM. The eastern region has 15 reservoirs having total storage capacity of 18.83 BCM.