Telangana slips into rainfall deficit as monsoon stalls in September

Telangana has slipped into the deficient rainfall category, recording a 23 per cent deficit between June 1 and September 9. The IMD has forecast thunderstorms and isolated heavy rainfall over the State, but below-normal rainfall is likely to continue until September 16.

Hyderabad: Telangana has slipped into deficit rainfall category due to weak performance of south west monsoons. While the rainfall deficit for the state from June 1 to September 9, is 23 percent, for the core Hyderabad region under GHMC and areas under Cyberabad and Malkajgiri municipalities, the rainfall deficit during the same time frame is 26 percent.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD), Hyderabad in its forecast on Wednesday has issued a five-day thunderstorm activity alert and a two-day heavy rainfall forecast between Saturday, September 12 and Sunday, September 13, in isolated places over Telangana.

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Meanwhile, IMD, New Delhi in its forecast indicated that overall, till September 16, the trend of below normal rainfall would continue. “There will be scattered rainfall with isolated heavy rainfall likely over Peninsular India during some days of this week. Overall, the rainfall is likely to be below normal during the week, up to September 16,” the IMD, New Delhi weather forecast said.

Rainfall data from TGDPS has indicated that cumulative rainfall for Telangana (June 1 to September 9) dropped to 485.9 mm against the normal of 629.4 mm.

While a majority of districts maintained normal rainfall till August, the dry spell stretching into the first nine days of September has rapidly altered the rainfall data. The normal rainfall for September month is 167.1 mm while till September 9, the actual rainfall has been 12 mm, which is 78 percent deficit.

Out of 33 districts, 19 are now categorized under deficient rainfall status with deficit rainfall ranging from 20 percent to 59 percent. The hardest-hit regions include Hanumakonda, Warangal, and Jangaon, which are experiencing steep seasonal deficits of 49 percent , 48 percent , and 44 percent respectively.

Meanwhile, the GHMC capital region recorded a cumulative rainfall of 374.1 mm against the normal 505.9 mm, marking a 26 deficit rainfall.