People cross the Bagmati river on Monday. Picture by Prakash Kumar

Patna, Aug. 8: The state capital, till Saturday, had witnessed 5 per cent less than normal rainfall expected in the region. But today the status of rainfall in the state capital is 5 per cent more than the expected.

This precisely shows the impact of the revival of rains in the state. According to Met officials and experts, almost all districts of the state have received good rainfall in the past three days and has made way for active monsoon in the region at least for the next week. People and farmers of the state have heaved a sigh of relief as many were reeling under the fear of a third consecutive drought in Bihar.

In the middle of the monsoon season this year, it seems that the rains in the state are keeping everyone guessing, including the Met scientists, farmers and common man regarding the mood of monsoon. For timely arrival of monsoon followed by good amount of rainfall in the first few weeks raised hopes of abundant rainfall but expectations started subsiding with frequent dry sells in the past 45 days.

Government departments started holding meetings to minimise the impact of the vagaries of monsoon on the farming community. Considering the lesser rainfall in July in comparison to June, a meeting of all district agriculture officers was convened on July 28 for framing special contingency drive for kharif crop cultivation in the state. A meeting of the crisis management group headed by the chief secretary was held recently to assess the ground reality.

Now, the rain-bearing clouds are back in the state and the Met experts claim that such rainy condition would exist for the next seven to 10 days. “Almost every district in the state has received good rainfall since the past two days. And such rainfall would continue to occur in the next seven to 10 days. The reason for the recent rainfall in the state is a favourable trough line, which currently exists over Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh, Gaya in Bihar and Malda in Bengal. Though this trough line is oscillating a bit between north and south direction at its current position, there would be no dry spell in the next 10 days. Moreover, scattered heavy rainfall is expected in south and north Bihar,” said Abdul Sattar, assistant professor of meteorology, Rajendra Agriculture University (RAU), Pusa, adding that south Bihar has received less rainfall than north Bihar.

Director of Patna Met department Animesh Chanda also acknowledged the revival of rainfall in the state. “Monsoon is normal in the state for the past two days. Moreover, normal to active rainfall is predicted at least for the next two to three days wherein rainfall up to 70mm is likely to occur in scattered places in the state,” said Chanda.

According to the Indian Meteorological Department data, the entire state has received 580.1mm of actual average rainfall from June 1 till August 8, which is 1 per cent less than the normal average rainfall of 585mm for this period. The state capital has received 514mm of rainfall that is 5 per cent more than the normal rainfall of 490.7mm for this period.

Agriculture experts are of the view that the revival of rains would augment in the growth of kharif crops. “If the current trend of alternative drying and wetting continue then I am sure that the cultivation of kharif would be better than the previous two years,” said Anil Kumar Jha, an expert in agriculture from the state.