Monsoon hits Himachal, 10 days in advance

The southwest monsoon reached Himachal Pradesh Saturday, with most of the the hill state experiencing moderate to heavy rainfall, the meteorological office here said.

"The southwest monsoon arrived almost 10 days in advance in the state," Manmohan Singh, director of the meteorological office, told IANS.

The monsoon normally hits the state by June 27, he said.

Last year it was delayed and reached the state July 5 and rainfall during that season was 11 percent deficient.

"From June 1 to June 15, the state normally gets 34 mm of rain but this time the state received 87.4 mm rainfall, which is 155 percent more than the normal (average)," he said.

All 12 districts, expect Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti, received excess rainfall during this period.

Una district recorded the excess rainfall of 411 percent during this period, the highest in the state, followed by Kangra (365 percent) and Sirmaur (319 percent).

Shimla district got 130 percent excess rains till date.

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