Shimla, Sep 19

The southwest monsoon has finally withdrawn from Himachal Pradesh, leaving a seven percent deficit in rain, the weather bureau here said Thursday.

"The overall monsoon was below average in most parts of the state. So far, the state has seen seven percent deficit rain," Manmohan Singh, director of the local meteorological office, told IANS.

He said the cumulative rainfall from June 1 to Sep 19 was 747.2 mm, against the normal precipitation of 799 mm, which was seven percent less than the normal rainfall.

Dharamsala, the abode of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, recorded 3,075.8 mm rainfall, which was 56 percent more than its normal.

"This town has received the highest rainfall since 1958, when it recorded 4,153 mm," he Singh said.

Five out of 12 districts recorded below normal precipitation.

Kangra district received rainfall of 1,886 mm, while Kinnaur, Kullu and Una recorded 394.9 mm, 610.4 mm and 1,162 mm rainfall, respectively. All these districts got excess rainfall, which was 23, 66, 24 and 43 percent respectively more than the normal.

Shimla town recorded 845.4 mm rain, which was 16 percent less than normal.

In the last four months, June was the wettest month in the state. It saw 241 mm rainfall, which was 143 percent more than normal.

However, July turned out to be relatively dry, with the average rainfall of 221.9 mm as against the normal of 311.1 mm, a deficiency of 29 percent. In August, the state experienced deficient rain with an average precipitation of 246.1 mm, which was 15 percent less than the normal of 290.8 mm.

September saw the least rainfall, the director of the local met office said. 

Agriculture is the main occupation of the people in the state, providing direct employment to 69 percent of its workforce. 

By:IANS