Monsoon is now in the active phase in Jharkhand. Widespread showers are being predicted till July 15. In the last 24 hours, light to moderate rainfall was recorded at most places while some parts in the north western region including Garhwa, Palamu and Latehar received heavy showers.
According to the Meteorological Centre, Ranchi on July 12 western parts are likely to witness heavy rainfall. Some places in the north and north eastern parts may receive heavy showers on July 13 while on July 14 parts of central and eastern Jharkhand may witness heavy showers. Scattered places may receive light to moderate showers on July 15.
The Department has also issued a warning of lighting and thunderstorm activity for all the days. As per the communiqué, farmers have been advised to stay indoors until the weather clears and not work in the field during this time. People are also suggested to stay away from trees and electric poles.
“In the coming days monsoon will continue to remain active across the State. The north western region has received large excess rainfall this year. The monsoon trough line has shifted towards the foothills of Himalaya because of which regions adjoining the state of Bihar will receive good amount of rainfall. With an increase in the rainfall activity, the temperature is also likely to remain near normal,” said Deputy Director MET Centre, Ranchi Abhishek Anand.
As per the statistics released on July 11, from June 1 to July 11 Jharkhand has received a total of 311.2 mm of rainfall as against the normal amount of 310 mm. Out of the 24 districts only three have received large excess rainfall- Palamu 459.6 mm, Garwah 385.6 mm and Latehar 525.3 mm while seven districts are in deficit including Deoghar and Gumla (-48) each, Pakur (-39) Sahibganj (-38), Saraikela- Kharsawan (-26), Sindega (-22) and Khunti (-33). In the State 14 districts have witnessed normal rainfall so far.
On the agriculture sector, the impact of monsoon has been very positive this year. In the pre monsoon season as well, the weather conditions were very congenial with no extreme heat like conditions and the maximum temperature being recorded at around 35 degree Celsius.
“For the past few years, Jharkhand has received deficient rain but this year, the amount of rain was around 120 mm. This enabled the farmers to plough their land on time and they were well prepared to being sowing as soon as monsoon arrived here,” said A Wadood, an agro- meteorological scientist at Birsa Agriculture University (BAU) Ranchi. Wadood added from June 15 to July 10 no torrential rain is required and the amount received so far has been adequate for keeping the soil moist so that sowing can be done.
“Due to monsoon anomaly last year, the crop coverage up to July 31 was only about 25- 30 percent and in August the total coverage was only 84 percent. The actual window for sowing is basically till July 20. This year, by July 9 almost 25 percent of the area has been covered. With plenty of time and congenial weather conditions before the end of July, 100 percent coverage will be ensured. This time farmers are hoping to harvest a bumper Kharif crop,” added the agro- meteorological scientist.
