The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Kerala fourth lowest in national rainfall list

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Friday, Jul 18, 2008
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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Kerala fourth lowest in national rainfall list

P. Venugopal

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Fourteen of the 36 meteorological divisions in the country are on the deficit in terms of rainfall till July 15 this season and Kerala, the gateway of the Indian monsoon, is fourth from the lowest.

The latest monsoon update of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) says that the cumulative seasonal rainfall from June 1 to July 15 has been 6 per cent above the long period average for the country as a whole.

North West India received a stunning 77 per cent excess rainfall. North East India cleared the bar by a whisker recording one per cent above the long period average.

The performance of Central India too was equally good, the region falling short by just three per cent.

A variation of up to 20 per cent either way is considered normal. The southern parts of the Peninsula missed out on rainfall in a big way so far, the deficit for the region as a whole coming to 34 per cent. The deficit is worst for Marathwada (64 per cent), followed by Rayalaseema (49 per cent) and North interior Karnataka (48 per cent). Kerala is 44 per cent on the deficit.

Deficit rainfall

The following are the other meteorological divisions in the deficit list: Assam and Meghalaya (28 per cent); Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura (21 per cent), Gujarat region (21 per cent), Madhya Maharashtra (41 per cent), Vidarbha (34 per cent), Coastal Andhra Pradesh (32 per cent), Telangana (31 per cent), Coastal Karnataka (28 per cent), South interior Karnataka (29 per cent) and Lakshadweep (21 per cent).

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