Monsoon withdraws from Pb, Hry; rainfall deficiency 46, 39 pc

From June 1-September 26, Punjab had received 266 mm of rains as against normal of 488.2, a deficiency of 46 per cent, said Rajinder Singh, a MeT official with the Chandigarh Meteorological Department.

He said the neighbouring Haryana had received 277.8 mm of rains during the period as against normal of 454.3 mm, leaving a deficiency of 39 per cent, following the said monsoon's withdrawal on Tuesday.

The monsoon rain deficiency, which hovered around 70 per cent due to scanty rains in June-July period in the two agrarian states, had improved somewhat after the weather system picked up pace in August, during which Punjab (105.1 mm) and Haryana (161.6 mm) received bulk rains.

Chandigarh, the joint capital of the two states, received 759.7 mm monsoon rains as against normal of 837.7 mm, leaving a deficiency of 9 per cent, which Singh said is considered as normal.

With rain deficiency high in Punjab, the State's Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had recently accused the Congress led UPA government for allegedly ignoring the claim of Rs 5,112 crore drought relief for the farmers despite the state having "maximum rain deficiency in the country".

According to Rajinder Singh, in last year's monsoon season (June-Sep), Punjab and Haryana had received 459.3 mm and 374.4 mm of rainfall respectively, and the rains were deficient by 7 per cent and 19 per cent.