The Marathwada region of Maharashtra has had no rain on 50 of the 82 monsoon days so far this year, a report by the divisional commissioner’s office said.
As of August 21, the expected rainfall in the region comprising Aurangabad, Jalna, Beed, Hingoli, Osmanabad, Latur and Nanded districts was 451.1 mm. However, the actual rainfall in the region has been 364.9 mm. That is a deficit of 19.1 per cent, according to the report.
Beed district has had the most number of no-rain days – 62 days – this monsoon, the period between June 1 and September 30. In Osmanabad, it hasn’t rained on 61 of the 82 days (from June 1 till August 21), as per the report. In June, it rained for an average of 7 days in the Marathwada region. Of the 31 days in July, 9 went dry. Till August 21, the region received rain for an average of 3 days, the report said.
In Parbhani district, the deficit has been the starkest. It has received only 309 mm of rainfall till August 21 against the expected figure of 761.30 mm, the report says. This points to a deficit of nearly 60 per cent, as per the report. At 567.2 mm, the Nanded district has received more than the expected rainfall (641.1 mm), the only outlier in the region. Considering that the expected rainfall in Marathwada for the calendar year is 679.5 mm, at 364.9 mm, the region has received 53.7 per cent of the annual rainfall till August 21, the report said.