Farmers of Punjab & Haryana Asked to Resume Harvesting

As northwest India witnessed heavy rain over the previous 24 hours, day temperatures dropped by up to six degrees Celsius in Haryana and by close to five degrees Celsius in Punjab. The region had also gotten rain earlier in the week.

The largest deviation from normal in Haryana was - 6.2 degrees at Rohtak. Daytime temperatures ranged from 23.7 degrees Celsius in Karnal to 30.6 degrees Celsius in Balasmand near Hisar. According to data published by the India Meteorological Department, the state's minimum temperatures ranged from 15.3 degrees Celsius at Mahendragarh to 17.4 degrees Celsius at both Kurukshetra and Karnal.

Maximum temperatures in Punjab ranged from 21.9 degrees Celsius in Gurdaspur to 27.7 degrees Celsius in Patiala, while minimum temperatures ranged from 13.3 degrees Celsius in Ferozepur to 18.6 degrees Celsius in Patiala. According to IMD, most localities of both agrarian states experienced light to moderate rain and thundershowers, with reports of severe rain and hailstorms in a few isolated locations.

Gurugram had the most rain in Haryana during the last 24 hours, with 60mm, followed by Faridabad, which had 25mm. The highest rainfall reported in Punjab during this period was 53.5 mm in Jalandhar, followed by 49 mm in Ferozepur.

The rains have been blamed on a western disturbance seen as a cyclonic circulation over Pakistan and its surroundings in lower and middle tropospheric levels, as well as a cyclonic circulation over north-east Rajasthan and bordering Haryana in lower tropospheric levels.

Despite the current spell of rain has hampered standing crops and harvesting schedules in many locations, it has also helped these states overcome the rain deficit that they had been experiencing.

Rainfall in Punjab was 152% above average from March 1 to March 25 and 142% above average in Haryana. According to IMD statistics, Punjab received 51.2 mm of rain during this period, compared to the usual of 20.3 mm, and Haryana received 32.5 mm, compared to the normal of 13.4 mm.