Thaindian News

Shimla, Sep 15 (IANS) The plentiful southwest monsoon across Himachal Pradesh this year has broken the record of 15 years, the weather office said here Wednesday.
“From June 1 to Sep 14 the state saw 816.6 mm of rain against the normal average of 741.1 mm, which means the state got 10 percent more rainfall,” Manmohan Singh, director of the meteorological office in Shimla, told IANS.

“After 1995, it was for the first time that the state got the highest excess rain. In the past 15 years, the highest surplus rain was witnessed in 2003 (4 percent),” he said.

According to him, in 1995 the state experienced 17 percent more rainfall than normal.

He said all the 12 districts in the state, except Lahaul and Spiti, got normal to excess rainfall.

“Till date Lahaul and Spiti saw a deficient rainfall of 23 percent, whereas Kinnaur district recorded 156 percent more rains,” Singh added.

Shimla, once the summer capital of the British, experienced 26 percent more rainfall till date. It saw 850 mm of rain against the normal of 671 mm.

He said the highest rainfall in Shimla from June 1 to Sep 14 was recorded in 1971 when it was 1,505.4 mm. The second highest was 1,483 mm in 1995.

The southwestern monsoon that reached the state July 5 would remain active in the region for a few more days. Normally, it starts receding by Sep 15.

“There would be mild to moderate rainfall in the state Wednesday and Thursday. But from Friday onwards, the state would experience moderate rainfall. Some places would be likely to witness even heavy spells of rain between Sep 17 and 21,” Manmohan Singh said.

Himachal Pradesh’s agriculture and horticulture-based economy is highly dependent on the monsoon.