Heavy rainfall in northwest, northeast India brings overall deficit down to just 3%

Heavy rainfall in northwest and northeast India over the past few days has brought down the overall monsoon precipitation deficit in the country from 11 per cent on June 30 to just 3 per cent on Thursday, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data.

The IMD reported that the rainfall deficit in northwest India has reduced from 33 per cent on June 30 to 14 per cent on Thursday, from 14 per cent to 8 per cent in central India, and from 13 per cent to 2 per cent in east and northeast India. South India has recorded surplus rains (13 per cent) in the monsoon season so far.

The Met office stated that 24 per cent of the sub-divisional area of the country experienced excess to large excess rainfall, 45 per cent received normal rainfall, and 31 per cent experienced deficient rainfall.

The country has gauged 190.6 mm of rainfall against a normal of 196.9 mm since the start of the four-month monsoon season on June 1.

June had ended with a rainfall deficit of 11 per cent, with the country receiving only 147.2 mm of rainfall in the month against a normal of 165.3 mm, the seventh lowest since 2001.

After making an early onset over Kerala and the northeastern region on May 30, and progressing normally up to Maharashtra, the monsoon lost momentum, extending the wait for rains in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and worsening the impact of a scorching heat wave in northwest India.

"Monsoonal winds remained stalled from June 10 to June 18 and made slow progress until June 26-27," IMD chief Mrutyunjay Mohapatra had said earlier.

The annual rain-bearing system covered a major part of northwest India after June 25, the IMD data showed.

The weather department on Thursday said heavy rainfall will continue over northwest and east India in the next 4-5 days. Extremely heavy rainfall is predicted in northeast India during this period.

The northeastern states are already grappling with severe floods. Assam's flood situation remains critical with over 16.5 lakh people affected in 29 districts in the second wave of flooding this year. Heavy rainfall in Manipur, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh has caused rivers to reach warning levels and triggered landslides.

The IMD earlier this week said India could experience above-normal rainfall in July and heavy rain may lead to floods in the hilly states and river basins in the central parts of the country.

Experts from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), a Nepal-based intergovernmental organisation, have also warned about a difficult monsoon season for the countries in the Hindukush Himalayan region including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan.IMD data shows that in 20 out of the 25 years when June rainfall was below normal (less than 92 per cent of the long-period average), July rainfall was normal (94-106 per cent of LPA) or above normal.

In 17 of the 25 years when June rainfall was below normal, the seasonal rainfall was normal or above normal, it said.