Fresh rain spell adds to the agony

The Central Weather Observatory in Pune, has described the recent rain as the withdrawal phase of the south-west monsoon’.

Dr. D. S. Desai, director (weather forecast) India Meteorological Department (IMD) said it was " too early and difficult at this stage to say whether the State will experience another spell of unseasonal rainfall like that in November and December last year”.

He said,“The withdrawal phase or the last phase of monsoon is an absolutely normal phenomenon marked by heavy rains. It generally occurs in the last week of September or first week of October”.

There has been appreciable rainfall in madhya Maharashtra, Vidarbha and Konkan. The spell will move southwards and result in rainfall in the southern states in next few days, he added.

Desai said the current rainfall was not very heavy’ as it was not affecting a very large area. “The rain is confined to a limited area in such a phase and hence it appears very heavy," he said. Meanwhile, the rain has left its mark on the city’s regular quota of monsoon and overall rainfall. It has already surpassed the year’s annual mark of 67 cm recording 70 cm.