Himachal Pradesh recorded an excess of 84 per cent rainfall in May, the highest in 19 years, taking the state's crop loss in pre-monsoon season to over Rs 192 crore.
As against the normal average of 63.3 mm for May, the state received an average of 116.8 mm of rainfall this May, Surender Paul, director at Shimla India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
According to IMD data available since 2004, the state witnessed the wettest May in 2023. Until now, it recorded deficient rains in May, except in 2010 and 2016 which witnessed 28 per cent and five per cent of excess rainfall respectively, Paul said. This year, six active western disturbances affected the state in May, leading to scattered to fairly widespread precipitation. In the past week, 54.4 mm of rainfall was recorded against the normal of 12.3 mm -- an increase of 342 per cent -- data from the meteorological department showed.
This year's pre-monsoon season from March 1 to May 30 recorded 286 mm rainfall against the normal of 240.7 mm -- an excess of 19 per cent.
The state has suffered losses to the tune of over Rs 192 crore in the ongoing pre-monsoon season, Rs 91 crore in horticulture and Rs 55 crore in agriculture crops, officials said.
According to weather experts, the unseasonal rain in May damaged crops that were about to harvest and also impacted apple and mango plantations. However, the rain helped crops in rain-fed areas by providing moisture to the soil.
Meanwhile, 34 roads were shut for vehicular traffic in the past week due to the inclement weather. National Highway 5 (Hindustan-Tibet road) was blocked after landslide at two places in Kinnaur district on Wednesday -- near Chaura and near Pagal Nallah in the Tapri area.
As a fresh Western Disturbance is likely to affect northwest India from Thursday, the MeT office has issued a 'yellow warning' for thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds in 10 out of 12 districts on Thursday, barring Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti.
The MeT also forecast thunderstorms and lightning in five to seven districts on Friday and Saturday.
In the last 24 hours, Solan was the wettest in the state with 73 mm of rainfall followed by Sangrha at 60 mm, Renuka 55 mm, Dalhousie 47 mm, Kufri 43 mm, Jhandutta 40 mm and Una 39 mm.
Normal life in all parts of Hamirpur district came to a halt following incessant rains since last night and the sharp drop in mercury. The water level in the Beas river flowing through the district has started rising and people have been warned not to go near the riverbank, sources said.
The average minimum and maximum temperatures were below normal on Wednesday. Keylong was coldest at night recording a low of 4.8 degrees Celsius. A marked fall was witnessed in maximum temperatures and Dhaulakaun was the hottest during the day at 26.6 degrees Celsius, a decline of six degrees since Tuesday.
Source - https://www.devdiscourse.com
