Shimla: Much rain in June kept the temperatures moderate in the hills, damaged farm crops, washed away a bridge in Sirmaur district and deprived the public works department time to carry out bitumen layering activity on the roads.
Director meteorology Himachal, Manmohan Singh described it as a wet June for the gauges across the state had recorded excess rain than normal for the season.
Rain on an average has been in excess of 50% to normal for the month, he said. Barring the high altitude district of Lahaul Spiti that had deficient precipitation in the month, Una district recorded 190 % increased rainfall than normal, which was followed by Simaur 166 %, Hamirpur 88%, Bilaspur 72%, Kangra 65%, Mandi 49% Kullu 46%, Chamba 41%, Solan 29 %, Kinnaur 26 % and Shimla had 21% excess rain.
Lahul-Spiti recorded 57 % deficient summer rain.
The average day high temperatures recorded in Shimla was 24.5 degree Celsius, which was normal for the month.
A heavy down power in Srimaur district on Wednesday left a trail of destruction, washed away a bridge, broke links of at least 12 rural roads and damaged paddy crops.
Hydrologists and water engineer, however, heaved a sigh of relief as no shortages were reported from any part of the state.
No water tankers had to be requisitioned this season, which is very unusual, to meet the needs of the people as there was no summer dry spell this year, said a engineer of the Irrigation and Public Health Department.
With frequent rains having disrupted road construction activity principal secretary PWD, PC Kapoor said, “we have not had much of a working summer month as dry weather is essential for road tarring purposes.’
Sufficient water flows in the streams and rivers boosted hydropower generation in several plant in the state and the dams have reported near record water storage for the month.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
