Unseasonal rains might return around month-end

Unseasonal rains might make a return over the hills and plains of northern India in the next one-two days, but there intensity might not be very severe to cause any big damage to standing late-sown wheat and mustard crop.

According to meteorologists, there would be some showers over Punjab, Haryana, west UP, Delhi, parts of Madhya Pradesh and even Maharashtra in the next 24-48 hours, which will pull down the temperatures by two-three degrees.

However, its intensity might not be very great to cause any extensive damage to the standing crop.

"I don't expect the intensity of showers to be very great in the plains, but in the hills the rains would be good," G P Sharma, vice president of private weather forecaster Skymet said.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) in its weekly forecast said that rains and hailstorm might return by the end of March and the first week of April.

"Fresh western disturbance as an upper air system is very likely to affect western Himalayan region from March 30 onwards," the met department said in its forecast.

"Around the last day of March and the first week of April, the rains would again return but how extensive they would be will be known in the next few days," Sharma of Skymet said.

Unseasonal rains and hailstorm had lashed some parts of northern India few days back, which had affected rabi crops in almost six states.

However, till date, there have not been reports of any extensive damage as the intensity was less, while hailstorm was also in isolated pockets.