Dry spell after deluge in most parts of Telangana

Light to moderate rainfall was received all over the State during the week ending on August 9. As against a normal of 47.6 mm, the actual rainfall received was far less and it accounted for a large deficit of 83 percent.

Hyderabad: The State is experiencing a dry spell after the deluge. Many of the districts in the State were in for a phase of below normal rainfall in the first two weeks of August. Light to moderate rainfall was received all over the State during the week ending on August 9. As against a normal of 47.6 mm, the actual rainfall received was far less and it accounted for a large deficit of 83 percent.

The south-west monsoon is crucial for the agriculture sector, but the rainfall received so far in the month was only 3.8 mm. As per the forecast of the Indian Meteorological Department, the second half of August is expected to be better off as the monsoon is expected to revive after August 18. Compared to several other States that are experiencing large deficit of rainfall, the State seemed to be better off.

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June was a rainfall deficit month for the State with a shortfall of 44 per cent, while July had a large excess of 114 per cent. The deficit in the current month is expected to be made up in the second half which is likely to be normal. Taking the total rainfall received in the State from June 1 to August 15 this year into consideration, it is stated that eight districts received rainfall in large excess and 19 in excess of the normal. Six districts had received normal rainfall.

As on today, the situation in the State is fairly good if the rainfall figures all over the country were taken into consideration. A total of 263 of the 717 districts in the country had experienced deficient rainfall. The short fall accounts for 20 percent or more.

The total area sown in the State crossed 96.78 lakh acres (67%) as against the normal area of 124.28 lakh acres. But the crops in the rain-fed pockets were in a precarious condition on account of the dry spell.

Though the Godavari basin projects received good inflows, those in the Krishna basin barring Jurala had no significant inflows so far. In view of the poor storage levels in Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam projects, the River Management Board (KRMB) has sounded a caution stating that it was likely to be a below normal rainfall year and water needs to be utilized in a judicious manner. No irrigation scheduled has been finalised under both the projects so far.