Heavy showers lashed several parts of Maharashtra on Monday, bringing relief to the arid and drought-hit Marathawada region.
“Except for Mumbai city and a few isolated areas in north Maharashtra like Malegaon, the monsoon has covered around 92-93% of the State. While the yawning rainfall deficit will persist till the end of June, we are hoping that good rainfall in July and August will make it up,” said Dr. Anupam Kashyapi, Head, Weather & Air Pollution Monitoring Unit, India Meteorological Department.
Districts like Jalna, Aurangabad and especially parts of Beed were pummelled by heavy showers as the rain threw communication and public life awry in remote hamlets and villages.
Two alternative bridge connecting Kej and Kalamb in Beed were washed away in the first downpour itself, owing to incessant rain since Saturday.
Kolhapur, Sangli , Satara and Ahmednagar, which have been receiving showers since late Saturday, continued to witness heavy bouts of rainfall on Monday.
The Vidarbha region, including Bhandara, Nagpur, Yavatmal and Amravati witnessed intermittent rainfall which varied in intensity from place to place. Excessive rains, coupled with strong gusts of wind, destroyed more than a hundred houses in the backwater tehsils of Amravati, said authorities.
IMD authorities said that the region would continue to receive scattered rainfall till June 27.
Pune city, reeling under the onslaught of heat and humidity, continued to receive light to moderate showers on Monday.
“The season’s total for Pune [since June 1] has been a mere 42.4 mm rain as opposed to the normal pre-monsoon showers which is supposed to be 103.2 mm,” said Dr. Kashyapi.
Likewise, the rain-shadow Marathwada region had only received 44.6 mm rain in pre-monsoon showers as opposed to the normal of 108.3 mm, leading to a deficit of more than 59%, while the Vidarbha region had received a sparse 23.2 mm as opposed to the normal of 105.6 mm rain, causing a 78% deficit in rainfall.
