M A I N   N E W S

Late burst of rain leaves IMD smiling; deficit down to 10%
Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service

Patients being shifted to a safer place after heavy showers in Surat. PTI

New Delhi, September 8
As monsoon prepares to beat a retreat this month, it appears to have not fared so badly, at least in terms of statistics. The nationwide deficiency has dropped to 10 per cent and may go down further in the coming week. This will help the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) present the 2012 seasonal rains with a “normal” tag.

But there are regions which will end up in the “deficient rain” category and Punjab and Haryana are among those. However, despite being among the worst-affected this season, the two states are not in the Centre’s list of drought-affected areas.

An Agriculture Ministry response tabled in Parliament on Friday shows that 73 districts of the 659 districts in the country have been declared drought-hit by their respective state governments. The two most-deficient regions — Punjab and Haryana — are absent from the list.

Karnataka has declared 26 out of 30 districts drought-hit, Gujarat 17 of 26 districts, Maharashtra 25 of 35 districts and Rajasthan five of 33 districts.

Officials said that it was up to the states to declare drought depending upon the ground situation.

All recommendations for Central assistance are based on the assessment projected by the states.