After record delay, monsoon begins to withdraw from Rajasthan

The withdrawal of southwest monsoon from Rajasthan has commenced after a record delay of 21 days, the Meteorological department said on Friday.

Due to the prolonged monsoon, the desert state this year has recorded its sixth highest rainfall of 583.6 mm in the history, according to the MeT department.

"The monsoon, which entered the state on July 2, stayed for 82 days against average period of 61 day," MeT Jaipur centre director Shiv Ganesh said on Friday.

"The southwest monsoon started withdrawing from west Rajasthan on Wednesday, leaving a record delay in the withdrawal history of southwest monsoon from west Rajasthan," he said.

The monsoon was set on in Rajasthan on July 2 with a delay of 17 days and completely covered the whole state by July 19, he added.

The state recorded its highest rainfall of 802.5 mm in 1917, according to the MeT department.

Later, the state received 640.4 mm rainfall in 1944, 622.3 mm in 1975, 614 mm in 1973 and 590.4 mm in 2011, it said.