Jharkhand records 44% monsoon rain deficit; 7 districts face 60% shortfall

The overall monsoon rain deficit in Jharkhand was at 44 per cent on Friday with seven districts facing a shortfall of over 60 per cent, a weather official said.

When monsoon set over Jharkhand on June 18, the state's overall rain deficit was at 50 per cent. With good rainfall across the state, the shortfall came down to 39 per cent on June 22. Thereafter, the rain intensity reduced and the deficiency rose to 44 per cent on Friday, the official said.

The state has received 74.6 mm rainfall from June 1-24 against the normal rainfall of 132.2 mm during the period.

"The rainfall deficiency is getting reflected due to a delayed monsoon break over Jharkhand. The amount of seasonal rain is counted from June 1, whereas monsoon set over the state on June 18. The deficit might continue in June but the condition will improve in July," Abhishek Anand, in-charge of Ranchi Meteorological Centre, told PTI.

"The progress in monsoon over Jharkhand is normal, neither strong nor weak. The rainfall intensity might increase from June 27 due to changes in wind pattern and incursion of moisture from Bay of Bengal," he said.

Garhwa and Chatra districts have registered the highest rain deficiency of 88 per cent and 86 per cent respectively, while Khunti, Hazaribag, Palamu, Ramgarh and Sahibganj have recorded over 60 per cent rain deficit, a weather bulletin said.

Rainfall is normal in only three districts -- West Singhbhum (+2 per cent), Dhanbad (-10 per cent) and Dumka (-18 per cent) -- out of 24 districts of the state. As per the MeT Department's parameters, 19 per cent deviation of monsoon rainfall, either surplus or deficient, is considered to be normal.

In the last 24 hours, Latehar district has received the highest rainfall at 38 mm, followed by 22.2 mm rain in Daltonganj.

Agricultural experts, however, said rainfall is weak but it would not have much impact on Kharif crops. They suggested farmers to prepare their fields for the rainy crops.