Lucknow | Uttar Pradesh has received 17 per cent less rainfall than normal so far this monsoon, even as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday forecast a spell of heavy to very heavy rain across the state over the next few days.
According to the latest rainfall data released by the Lucknow Regional Meteorological Centre, the state had received 418 mm of rain against the normal 504.5 mm as of August 18 -- a deficit of 86.5 mm.
The shortfall is particularly pronounced in eastern Uttar Pradesh, which has received 403.3 mm against the normal 534.8 mm, registering a deficit of 25 per cent. Western Uttar Pradesh, comparatively, has fared better, with 439 mm of rain against the normal 462 mm, a deficit of only 5 per cent, it showed.
The rainfall figures show considerable variation among districts. Seven districts have recorded rainfall deficits of 60 to 99 per cent, while another 30 districts are in the 20 to 59 per cent deficit category.
At the other end of the spectrum, three districts -- Meerut, Muzaffarnagar and Sambhal -- have received rainfall 60 per cent or more above normal. Six districts have recorded 20 to 59 per cent excess rainfall, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Twenty-nine districts have received rainfall within the normal range, defined by the IMD as between 19 per cent above and 19 per cent below normal.
The deficit comes despite several spells of intense rainfall during the monsoon, underscoring the uneven distribution of rain across the state.
The IMD has, however, forecast a significant increase in rainfall activity in UP over the coming days under the influence of a depression centred over Jharkhand and adjoining areas of Gangetic West Bengal. The system is expected to move west-northwestwards, bringing heavy to very heavy rainfall to parts of the state, it added.
The IMD has forecast "heavy rainfall at several places" in both eastern and western UP through August 23, with the possibility of very heavy rainfall at some places, particularly in eastern parts of the state.
The IMD has specifically warned of "extremely heavy rainfall" in parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by heavy rainfall on subsequent days this week.
