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The rainfall recorded for the country as a whole has continued to improve after having fallen steeply from a position of strength of an excess of 17 per cent in January to as low as a deficit of -68 per cent (of the normal) in only the following month (February) — which has since been in a gradual recovery mode.
The recorded rainfall figures improved to -45 per cent by the end of March and -26 per cent as of Monday (yesterday, April 25) after the South Peninsula, West Maharashtra and adjoining Central India and parts of North-West India recorded good rainfall. Part of East India and North-East India are still in deficit.
Monsoon ‘most likely to arrive on time this year’
Above-normal to West
For instance, during the surplus month of January, the South Peninsula, West India and parts of North-West India enjoyed above-normal rainfall. During February, most of North and North-West India remained dry while excess rain was reported from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rayalaseema and Lakshadweep and normal in Tamil Nadu in the South and Chhattisgarh in East-Central India.
In March, Kerala, Coastal Karnataka, Madhya Maharashtra and West Madhya Pradesh recorded excess rainfall while it was normal in Lakshadweep, Marathawada, Vidarbha and East Rajasthan. In April, till date, almost all areas in the South Peninsula, West and Central India, except the State of Madhya Pradesh, have received normal to excess rainfall. Parts of North-West India, including Punjab, too, have.
Now, 120 years of Indian rainfall figures at your fingertips
Extended forecast by IMD
An extended forecast by India Meteorological Department (IMD) for the rest of this month and until May 20 indicates above-normal rain over Kerala, parts of adjoining South Peninsula, Himalayan foothills and North-East India for the entire period, while normal rain is forecast for the rest of the country.
The IMD outlook also indicates that Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and parts of Gujarat may briefly join the list of meteorological subdivisions expected to receive above-normal rainfall during this period as rain-bearing western disturbances check in from across the international border.
Live reservoir storage
The Central Water Commission, which monitors live storage status of 130 reservoirs of the country with a total live storage capacity of 174.233 billion cubic metres (bcm) amounting to 67.58 per cent of the total, has said that live storage available in reservoirs is 61.877 bcm as per updated figures on Thursday last.
This is 36 per cent of total live storage capacity and 82 per cent for the corresponding period last year, which was 75.389 bcm. The average of last 10 years’ live storage was 51.532 bcm, which means that current live storage is 120 per cent of storage of average of last 10 years.
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