Rains lash parts of Punjab, Haryana; Leaves farmers worried

Chandigarh, Oct 11: Rains accompanied by hailstorm lashed parts of Punjab and Haryana on Thursday, bringing down mercury but leaving farmers worried. Rains lashed Mohali, Patiala, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Panchkula, Ambala and Yamunanagar.

Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, also witnessed the rains. Following the rains, the maximum temperature across the two states and their common capital Chandigarh settled in the range of 27-31 degrees Celsius, witnessing a drop between 2-6 notches against normal limits, as per the MeT Department report here.

An MeT official said the sudden change in weather in the region was due to western disturbance active over the northern region. However, the dry weather is likely to prevail over the next few days, he said.

The south-west monsoon had withdrawn from the two states on October 1, the official said. Heavy monsoon rains had lashed the two states between September 22-24, causing damages to crops at many places. The fresh spell of rains has left farmers worried as paddy procurement process was underway.

"The rains are unusual for this time of the year. Already, we have suffered due to heavy rains towards September end. The rains increase moisture content of the paddy," a farmer from Patiala said.

PTI