According to experts, more than half of August is likely to pass without significant rainfall in Maharashtra.
IT WILL take another week for the southwest monsoon to show any signs of revival in the state, said weather experts, adding that, as a result, higher than normal day temperatures have been reported from several regions. This, experts said, means that more than half of the crucial month of August would pass without any significant rains for Maharashtra.
According to officials at the India Meteorology Department (IMD), lack of rains and clear skies, especially during the day, have set the mercury soaring. For instance, Pune recorded close to 30 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, with the maximum temperatures expected to continue rising this week.
Meteorologists are of the opinion that except for light rains, which are expected to occur over Vidarbha and north-central Maharashtra during the next two-three days, rainfall would continue to remain largely subdued in these regions.
The break has brought little rainfall even to an otherwise wet Konkan region.
About the lull in the rainfall activity, AK Srivastava, head, climate monitoring and analysis group at IMD, Pune, said, “Currently, there are no supportive systems that could boost the rainfall activity over central India, Maharashtra and and some regions in the southern peninsula.”
Though a large number of dams in western parts of the state are about to reach their full capacity, the fate of kharif cultivation is worrisome.
Meteorologists have expressed concern over the extending dry spell, particularly over Marathwada and Vidarbha sub-divisions, which continue to remain rainfall deficient by 28 and 27 per cent, respectively.
Marathwada and Vidarbha are among the eight sub-divisions in the country, which are rain deficient, with no rainfall expected until August 13. However, monsoon has passed though Ferozpur, Delhi and Balasore in the north and is set to remain active over the Himalayan foothills during the next six to eight days.
