Monsoon withdraws leaving Punjab, Haryana with scanty rains

Chandigarh: With the withdrawal of monsoon in the grain bowl states of Punjab and Haryana, the weather department recorded scanty rains this year even as good rainfall towards the end brought down the overall deficit.

 Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, also received poor rains this year, with a deficit of 35 per cent, an official of the Chandigarh's Meteorological Department told PTI here today.

 The monsoon withdrew from Punjab and Haryana including Chandigarh on September 29, he said.

 The rain deficit was hovering over 40 per cent in Punjab until a fortnight back, MeT official said, adding that good amount of rains in the state later helped bring down the deficit to minus 31 per cent.

 In Haryana, where many places in northern parts received good rainfall recently, the overall deficit for the state stands at 38 per cent, he said.

 Between June 1 and September 30, Punjab received rainfall of 338 mm against normal of 491.5 mm, leaving the deficit at 31 per cent.

 In comparison, Haryana received 287.7 mm rain during the period against a normal of 460.4 mm, with deficit at 38 per cent, which is much more than its neighbouring state, he said.

 Chandigarh received 548.3 mm of rain between June 1 and September 30 against the normal of 844.2 mm, resulting in a deficit of 35 per cent, the official said.

 According to the official, the rain deficit in Union Territory Chandigarh had also come down slightly from 43 per cent earlier due to good rains two weeks back.

 Uncertain weather this year, including erratic and weak monsoon, has been the bane of farmers of the country's grain bowl states.

 Earlier this year, the farmers had to face vagaries of the weather as their crops suffered damage due to unseasonal heavy rains and hailstorm in March.

 Later the 'white fly pest' attack, which damaged the cotton crop in many parts of Punjab and Haryana, added to their woes.