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MP's monsoon misery continues

BHOPAL: After the driest July in a decade, August isn’t proving too bountiful on the monsoon front, either.


There is trouble ahead for the state if monsoon does not revive strongly in the last fortnight of August. With 15 districts in MP 20% rain deficit, the situation is worrisome indeed, say met officials.



Monsoon in Madhya Pradesh stretches from June 1 to September 30. But July and August are the months when state usually records maximum amount of rain. Rainfall generally reduces sharply in September as it happens to be the tail end of the monsoon.

As of Thursday morning, MP was facing 10% rain deficiency. The state has received 517.6mm rain so far while the normal rainfall usually recorded till now is 577.8mm.

Among the four main cities, Bhopal is 5% rain surplus while Indore, Gwalior and Jabalpur are rain deficit by 7%, 27% and 20% respectively.

Overall, at least 35 out of 52 districts in MP have deficiency of varying degrees, although 15 districts, — Anuppur, Balaghat, Damoh, Jabalpur, Katni, Sagar, Tikamgarh, Bhind, Dhar, Guna, Gwalior, Hoshangabad, Mandsaur and Shajapur — face deficiency of over 20%.

Met officials say that less than 20% rainfall is considered normal. But good rainfall is required to fill the gap in places where deficiency is more than 20%. Hopes are now pinned on the remaining days of August.

As per met department, 990mm rainfall is considered normal for the state and 1,090mm rain is considered as yearly normal rainfall for Bhopal. Officials said back-to-back systems developed in June helped cities like Bhopal to remain rain surplus despite scanty showers in July this year.

But the situation is worrisome in places where the shortfall is more than 20%. However, fresh formations in Bay of Bengal and widespread showers continuing in several places in the state are expected to fill the gap and get MP close to normal of its yearly rainfall quota, met officials added.

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