Monsoon plays truant as 11 districts receive deficit rainfall

Bhubaneswar: As many as 11 out of 30 districts in the state have received deficit rainfall till date ever since the onset of southwest monsoon, Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre said Saturday.

The state has received 169.6 mm rain during the period from June 1 to 26 which is 3 per cent less than the normal average rainfall of 175.3 mm. The highest 255.3 mm rainfall was recorded in Sundargarh district while Ganjam district recorded the lowest rainfall of 79.5 mm.

Districts like Mayurbhnaj, Keonjhar, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Boudh, Bolangir, Kandhamal, Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada and Nabarangpur have recorded deficit rain ranging from 20 to 59 per cent during the period, the Met Centre said.

Bhadrak district recorded the highest 49 per cent deficit rain, followed by Ganjam & Gajapati (46 per cent each), Kandhamal (35 per cent), Jajpur (34 per cent), Keonjhar (27 per cent), Bolangir (26 per cent), Nabarangpur (25 per cent) and Mayurbhanj, Rayagada & Boudh (24 per cent), it said.

Puri is the only district that has received excess rainfall of above 60 per cent. The district has recorded 220 mm rainfall so far which is 66 per cent more than the normal downpour.

Nine other districts—Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Sonepur, Nuapada, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara & Koraput—have recorded excess rainfall of 20 to 59 per cent.

The remaining nine districts have received normal downpour during these days. The districts are: Balasore, Dhenkanal, Angul, Deogarh, Sambalpur, Nayagarh, Khurda, Kalahandi and Malkangiri.

Meanwhile, the Meteorological Centre said thunderstorm with lightning is very likely to occur at one or two places of Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh, Ganjam, Gajapati, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Kandhamal, Rayagada, Malkangiri and Koraput districts Sunday.