Hyderabad: Telangana’s rainfall picture remained uneven as of Sept 1, with 17 of 33 districts recording deficient rainfall and 16 in the normal category, according to IMD data..Despite severe shortfalls in several mandals, no district was classified as largely deficient. The sharper rainfall stress was visible at the mandal level, with 11 mandals receiving 60% or more less rainfall than normal during June 1-Sept 1.Telangana received 473.9 mm of rainfall during the period against a normal 581.2 mm, a deficit of 18%. This placed the state’s cumulative rainfall in the normal category under the IMD’s classification.Rainfall deteriorated sharply during Aug, when the state received 134.5 mm against a normal 215.8 mm, a deficit of 38%. Sept began on an even weaker note, with the state recording just 0.1 mm on Sept 1 against 7.7 mm normal, a 99% deficit.June rainfall was 12% below normal, while July was almost normal with a 1% deficit. The sharp deterioration in Aug has therefore emerged as a key feature of this year’s monsoon.The district-level picture masks pockets of severe rainfall deficiency, with Waddepalle in Jogulamba Gadwal recording the state’s highest deficit at 73%, followed by Kethepalle in Nalgonda at 71%.
