Widespread rainfall in Bihar till Friday: IMD

PATNA: Widespread rainfall was witnessed across the state in the last 24 hours and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued orange code alert for downpour on Thursday and yellow code alert for Thursday and Friday.
The rainy season has been quite aggressive this year. Following its early onset on last Saturday, monsoon has remained active on most days in the state. Weathermen claimed that Bihar has, in fact, received 242% more rainfall over the last one week.
While an orange code alert stipulates that authorities should be alert for extreme weather developments, the yellow code alert asks the authorities to be watchful.
The Patna meteorological centre also issued a warning for intense lightning in the state over the next two days. IMD also stated in its evening bulletin that frequent cloud to ground lightning along with moderate to severe thunderstorm is very likely to occur in Bihar till June 18.
“The prevailing very active monsoon phase over Bihar is highly conducive for large-scale lightning activities over the entire state in association with cumulonimbus clouds. The probability of intense lightning is very high during the next three days, which is till June 18,” read a special bulletin issued by the Patna meteorological centre on Wednesday.
It further stated that all open fields, rivers, waterlogged areas, mango and litchi orchards will remain vulnerable to lightning strikes. “Both the direct and indirect lightning strikes can prove fatal in such circumstances. The general public is advised to observe full caution during the period,” the bulletin stated.
Uday Shankar Sinha, metrereologist at Patna meteorological centre, said as earlier predicted, moderate rainfall was witnessed at most places in the state in the last 24 hours. He said few places in north-western parts of the state witnessed very heavy rainfall and one or two places in north-central parts witnessed heavy rain.
Places which received significant rainfall included Lauria (200mm), Ramnagar (170mm) and Valmiki Nagar (170mm), Chanpatia (140mm), Chatia (120mm), Triveniganj (100mm), Bagaha (100mm) and Nirmali (100mm) among others.
The prevailing rainy condition has been primarily attributed to a cyclonic circulation over east Uttar Pradesh and a trough line passing through Bihar, leading to active monsoon rainfall. “Rainfall is expected to continue with similar intensity over the next 48 hours,” Sinha said.