No drought, but drought-like conditions in the country

After a lull in the rainfall for the first half of the monsoon season, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) predicts that the South-west monsoon would be below normal in August and September. Till August 2, the country has received 20 per cent deficient rainfall.

IMD director general LS Rathore said, “Rainfall in the country would be deficient in the second half of the monsoon too.” According to IMD, from June 1 to August 2, 51 per cent of the total area of the country has got deficient rainfall, 37 per cent of the total area of the country has got normal rainfall and 12 per cent of the area has got scanty rainfall.

IMD officials said that it would be incorrect to say that the country as a whole is suffering drought, but drought-like conditions are prevailing in Punjab, Haryana, Saurashtra region of Gujarat, Rajasthan. But since Punjab and

Haryana have the best irrigation facilities in the country, the impact on these regions will be less. But Gujarat, Rajasthan, parts of Karnataka would be affected.

Rathore said that North-east and Central India are in a comfortable situation as the rainfall there has been decent, hence the production of paddy would not be affected. But an area of concern is coastal areas where rainfall figures have been less than normal; this would have an effect on the production of pulses.

Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday said that the drought in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat is the worst in recent times.

In Saurastra and Kutch, rainfall has been 80 per cent deficient in the first two months of the monsoon. While in Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, rainfall has been 71 per cent deficient, in Punjab and West Rajasthan, it has been 67 per cent. In South India too, the monsoon has been deficient in many areas. Kerala has received 808.5 mm of rainfall from June 1 to August 2, as opposed to a normal rainfall of 1414.8 mm. Hence, there is 46 per cent rainfall deficiency in the state. In South Interior Karnataka the condition is even worse. It received 200.9 mm of rainfall, while the normal rainfall level is 371.3 mm, taking the rainfall deficiency to 46 per cent. North Interior Karnataka received 159.3 mm of rainfall, while the normal rainfall figure for the area is 248.7 mm. This takes the deficiency figure to 36 per cent. In Coastal Karnataka, 2,098.1 mm is the normal rainfall level, but the area has received 1,593 mm; the deficiency figure in the area is 24 per cent.

In Tamil Nadu, the rainfall deficiency figure is 31 per cent. The normal rainfall in the area is 117.6 mm, while the state has received 81.2 mm till August 2.

In the country as a whole, 17 areas have received deficient rainfall. They are Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, East Uttar Pradesh, West Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, East

Rajasthan, Gujarat Region, Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Coastal Karnataka, North Interior Karnataka, South Interior Karnataka and Kerala.

Seven areas that have received scanty rainfall are West Rajasthan, Saurashtra and Kutch, Punjab, Delhi, Haryana and Chandigarh.

There are 17 areas that have received normal rainfall; they are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya, Sub Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Odisha, West Madhya Pradesh, East Madhya Pradesh, Konkan and Goa, Vidharba, Chattisgarh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rayalaseema and Lakshadweep.

-Sunday Standard