New Delhi, Oct. 27 (IANS): India has received the highest rainfall in the post-monsoon season beginning October 1 in 2019, as compared to the last five years.
This, in turn, has led to water reservoirs in the country brimming at levels much higher than the average of the last ten years.
There has been heavy rainfall across many regions last week, resulting in a massive rain surplus of 84 per cent above normal at 28.4 mm during the week ended October 23.
In the post-monsoon season, from October 1 to 23, it was 16 per cent above normal at 74.7 mm, according to data by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). Till October 16, it registered a deficit of 5 per cent which turned into an excess of 16 per cent in one week.
This is the highest in the post-monsoon period in the last five years. While there was 16 per cent excess rainfall in 2019 from October 1-23, the comparable figure in 2018 was a deficit of 51 per cent. In 2017, it was a surplus of 6 per cent, a deficit of 31 per cent in 2016, a deficit of 51 per cent in 2015 and a deficit of 31 per cent in 2014.
Compared to the large surplus in 2019, there was a huge deficit in four out of these five years, except for the small surplus in 2017.
In terms of a comparative performance of districts also, 2019 has been much better with 58 per cent of the districts receiving normal to large excess rainfall as compared to 15 per cent in 2018, 42 per cent in 2017, 38 per cent in 2016, 15 per cent in 2015 and 33 per cent in 2014.
The post-monsoon rainfall has also contributed to the water reservoirs brimming in the current season. According to the Central Water Commission, the current year's storage is nearly 127 per cent of last year's storage and also 127 per cent of the average of last ten years.
The storage in the water reservoirs during the week was 151.680 billion cubic metres, which is 89 per cent of the full capacity of the reservoirs as against the figure of 119 BCM or 70 per cent of the capacity in the corresponding period last year.
