Rainfall drastically declining in NE

Aizawl, Aug 16 (UNI) The India Meteorological Department(IMD) has revealed that despite routine onset of monsoon and high intensity showers, there is a steady decline in rainfall across the North East.

The IMD has already identified Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura and Nagaland, as 'rain deficient' states after analysing two and a half decades of weather data and has predicted that these states are likely to face drought-like situations in the near future.

Talking to UNI, Mr Dulal Chakraborty, Deputy Director of IMD, Northeast Regional centre, said these four states have been receiving deficient rainfall for the past 25 years, including this year, and in 1992 the region had received the lowest ever rainfall estimated at about 37 per cent less than normal (minus 37 per cent).

''The total rainfall in Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura and Nagaland on average is less than 26 per cent till the second week of August this year. Only in 1988, 1993, 1997 and 2003 these states had received excess rainfall,'' Mr Chakraborty said.

Revealing the rainfall pattern in the North East, he stated that except Mizoram, all other six states of the region received deficit rainfall ranging from minus 52 per cent to 14 per cent.

Tripura is lowest in the deficit list while Nagaland is on the highest point this year.

However, for Mizoram, the figure shows that it has received about 13 per cent excess (plus thirteen per cent) rainfall in comparison to normal rainfall till date.

Explaining the physical reasons of the variation, Mr Chakraborty said the south-west monsoon always hits the Himalayan foothills in the last week of May and moves towards the northeast with the highest intensity but it never comes back once it crosses Gangetic West Bengal on the way to central India.

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