Rain God Still Away

We Need the Rains Badly

Finally, Indian Meteorological Department has modifies its prediction regarding the rainfall in the country. The department has now said that the rainfall will be below normal for the month of July. Minister of state for Science and technology Prithviraj Chavan today announced this in the capital New Delhi. In the first prediction given by the department, the rainfall in July was expected to be 96 percent.
Agriculture Secretaries of states, including Maharashtra that have not received rainfall yet are slated to meet union Agriculture Secretary on Wednesday in this regard.

The march of the Southwest monsoon, crucial for the agricultural purposes and also for the drinking water in urban areas, has been standstill since June 7.

In Pune, the south-west monsoon normally arrives in the first week of June. Even though the city has witnessed thunderstorms and rains in between week, the actual season is far from here. The city has recorded 117.2 mm of rains since June 1. Ironically, the average rainfall for the city is 116.1 mm. Hence, actually the average has been crossed.

IMD’s status report uploaded last week informed that southwest monsoon set out over the Andaman Sea around its normal date on May 20. It set in over Kerala on May 23, about a week earlier than normal. Meanwhile, a cyclonic storm Aila formed in the Bay of Bengal resulting in the advance of the monsoon over north-eastern states, West Bengal and Sikkim. After a hiatus of about a week, the monsoon further advanced along the west coast and reached Ratnagiri on June 7.

This has obviously put pressure on the dams providing drinking water to Pune. The municipal corporation has already effected 15 to 20 percent of water cut till July. There are six major dams that provide drinking water to Pune. and Pimpri-Chinchwad namely Temghar, Varasgaon, Panshet, Khadakwasla, Pavana and Mulshi. The water levels in these dams has touched a low.