State receives 47% deficient rainfall

Times of India, June 20, 2010
BHUBANESWAR: Orissa received 47 per cent deficient rainfall against a normal of 101.2 mm in June so far, as the south-west monsoon that hit Orissa on Sunday last and covered the entire state turned weak. The weather office in the city forecast a revival in the system with widespread rainfall between June 24 to 25.


With monsoon playing truant, many parts of the state failed to receive widespread rain. This has also affected agricultural activities, particularly coastal Orissa, where farmers start agriculture operation on post Raja festival period. In western and interior pockets, even though mercury had dropped, the farming activities are yet to gear up.

"The monsoon remains in a subdued phase now. However the numerical weather prediction suggests that a system is likely to form along Orissa coast in between June 24 to 25 and cause wide spread rain across the state," said Sarat Chandra Sahu, director of local meteorological centre. He added, even though the monsoon current was weak, it continued to rain at several pockets across the state and had already covered the entire state.

According to the past 24 hours rainfall reports recorded at 8.30 hours on Sunday rainfall occurred at many places over interior and at few places over Coastal Orissa. The chief amount of rainfall recorded in the state are Lanjigarh (11 cm), Athagarh (8cm), Bhawanipatna, Deogaon and Madhabarida (4 cm each), Ambadola, Komna, Sambalpur, Rayagada, Khandapara, Umerkote, Titilagarh, Khairmal, Narsinghpur and Bonth (3 cm each).

The weather office further forecasted that under the impact of an upper air cyclonic circulation and trough line passing Jharkhand and neighbourhood, rainfall would occur at few places over the state with warning of heavy rain at isolated places.