The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday issued a red alert for Maharashtra, which had recorded a 19% rainfall deficit till 17 July since the start of the monsoon season on 1 June. Heavy rains which began on Monday are likely to continue till Friday.
Central Maharashtra is expected to get more than 204.4 mm of rainfall in the next two days. The forecast, however, brings trouble for farmers as there are significant chances of crop damage.
Maharashtra saw 50% above normal rains in the 24 hours ended 0800am on 18 July, pulling down the overall deficiency to 2%. Central Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha, key agricultural regions in the state, recorded 27%, 110% and 31% excess rainfall, respectively, during the period.
Weak monsoon rains had led to kharif crop acreage in the state falling 23% year-on-year to 9.1 million hectare. Maharashtra is a major grower of cotton, soybean, tur (pigeon pea), urad (black gram), maize, sugarcane, and millets.
Agriculture, the mainstay of Maharashtra, is the primary income generator of the people in the state. Almost 82% of the rural population depends on agriculture for livelihood. The sector contributes 12% to Maharashtra's GDP.
Palghar and Satara are expected to get extremely heavy rainfall on Wednesday, Raigad and ghat areas of Pune today and on Wednesday. Thane, Mumbai, Ratnagiri, Kolhapur, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, among others, have been put on an orange alert.
IMD's Agromet department has highlighted possible damage to crops following heavy showers, and has advised farmers to provision for drainage to remove excess water from fields and keep farm animals indoor during thunderstorm and lightning. Farmers have also been advised to postpone application pffertilizer and spraying of pesticides.
Fishermen, too, have been asked to exercise caution amid the forecast of inclement weather.
The weather office expects water logging or inundation in low-lying areas and riverbanks because of the heavy rainfall. Disruption is expected to road, rail, air and ferry transport. Major roads and local trains are seen to be affected.
“Due to active monsoon conditions, an increase in rainfall activity is expected over the west coast and heavy to very heavy rainfall spell is predicted over Konkan and Goa in the next five days. While IMD has placed Telangana, too, on red alert today, coastal Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Vidarbha, Odisha, Uttarakhand, east Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are on an orange alert till Saturday.
IMD issues a red alert when extremely bad weather conditions are expected to disrupt travel and power. During a red alert, there is significant risk of damage to life and property, and accordingly, residents are advised to take immediate action to protect themselves.
An orange alert signifies extremely bad weather that could also disrupt transport, rail, road, power supply and air. Orange alert indicates heavy to very heavy rainfall ranging between 115.6 mm and 204.4 mm.
Source - https://www.livemint.com
