As the Monsoon completes its onset across the whole of the subcontinent, latest rainfall indicate a comfortable situation for the country as a whole.
At of yesterday, most of the regions of the country have received comfortable amount of rainfall and though, for the country as a whole, rainfall this season was 3% below average.
Around 41% of the country had excess or normal amount of rainfall during the first six weeks of the monsoon, while 59% had scanty or deficient rain this year so far.
That is not as bad as it seems as the 3% deficiency in the national figure is mainly the result of lower than normal rainfall in the North East, one of the rainiest parts of the country.
For example, Assam-Meghalaya, which has got 35% less rain this year, has already got 76.6 cm of rain since the Monsoon started on June 1. In comparison, Delhi gets an average of 61 cm of rain in a year.
Overall, the North Eastern region of India reported the highest shorfall in monsoon rain in the first six weeks of monsoon this year.
In terms areas of concern, the only regions are in the centre of the country and Gujarat.
Gujarat, for example, has got only 15 cm against 27 cm considered as normal for this time of the year — a shortfall of 45%. The adjoining Saurashtra Kutch region, however, was down by only 21% at 12 cm of rain. Going further up, west Rajasthan too saw a slight shorfall of 6% over its normal quota of 6.6 cm. (see IMD chart attached.)
The other regions is the stretch from Madhya Maharashtra in the West to Rayalseema in the East, with the regions falling in between receiving around 20% less rainfall this year so far.
The bonus rainfall this year has gone to the region stretching from Western UP and Uttarakhand in the East to Eastern Rajasthan in the West and Madhya Pradesh in the South.
The highest rainfall so far this year has been along India’s Western Coast, with coastal Karnataka witnessing 148 cm of rain in just six weeks.