Monsoon deficiency in Maharashtra's Marathwada reaches 51 per cent

NEW DELHI: Rainfall deficiency in Marathwada region of Maharashtra, facing a drought like situation, reached up to 51 per cent even as total area in the country to have received "deficient" monsoon went up by 40 per cent.

Of the 36 sub divisions, 17 are witnessing "deficient" rainfall while the 16 have recorded "normal" monsoon. Only three sub divisions have seen "excess" rainfall, India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

As of today, 47 per cent of the country has witnessed normal rainfall, 40 per cent deficient and merely 13 per cent excess. The overall deficiency has increased to 12 per cent.

As the southwest monsoon is expected to withdraw from this month, the figure is likely to increase.

With many parts of Maharashtra witnessing drought like situation, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis embarked on his tour of affected areas today that includes Marathwada, Ahmednagar and Solapur districts.

Apart from Marathwada, the Central Maharashtra and Konkan and Goa region have witnessed deficiency in rainfall of 41 and 32 per cent respectively, IMD said.

North interior Karnataka has recorded 43 per cent of rainfall deficiency. Chief Minister Siddaramamiah today termed the drought situation in the state as the "worst" in 40 years and has asked officials to take it as a "challenge" and work on "war footing" to deal with it.

According to the Maharashtra government, Marathwada region is facing "acute water-shortage" while the state overall has received only 56.6 per cent of rainfall. The water storing capacity of all the reservoirs of the state is only 49 per cent, IMD said.

Of the 355 talukas in the state, five have received rainfall ranging from 0-25 per cent, 107 have recorded 26 to 50 per cent of the rainfall, 152 have witnessed 51-75 per cent and 70 have recorded 76 to 100 per cent and only 21 have witnessed 100 per cent or more rainfall.

Nine districts---Yavatmal, Nashik, Solapur, Kolhapur, Beed, Latur, Osmanabad, Nanded, Parbhani---have received rainfall between 26 to 50 per cent, the department added.