Punjab, Haryana Record Less Than Normal Rainfall As Monsoon Retreats

The south-west monsoon has withdrawn from Punjab and Haryana, leaving the two states with deficit rainfall, the meteorological department said on Thursday. Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, also received 7 per cent less rain, an official of Chandigarh’s Meteorological Department said.

With the withdrawal of monsoon from the grain bowl states of Punjab and Haryana on September 30, the weather department recorded 17 and 14 per cent less rainfall in the two states. Between June 1 and September 30, Punjab received 387 mm rain against a normal of 467 mm. In comparison, the neighbouring state of Haryana received 376 mm rain against a normal of 438 mm, a Met official said.

Chandigarh received 791 mm rain as against normal of 846 mm, with the deficit being 7 per cent, he said. Notably, the country received above normal monsoon rainfall during the four-month season for the second consecutive year and recorded the third highest precipitation in the last 30 years, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had said on Wednesday. The monsoon season in India officially starts on June 1 and lasts till September 30.

Among the places in Haryana which received scanty rain are Panchkula, Rohtak and Ambala. However places like Sirsa, Kaithal, Karnal, Fatehabad, Gurgaon and Kurukshetra had excess rainfall of 43 per cent, 35 per cent, 29 per cent, 2 per cent, 1 per cent and 9 per cent.