Odisha receives 9 per cent less than normal rainfall in July

Bhubaneswar: Odisha received nine per cent less rainfall in July this year with the Malkangiri and Bhadrak districts recording the highest and lowest rainfall of 633.8 mm and 178.9 mm respectively.

A letter issued by the Special Relief Commissioner's (SRC) office said that as many as 17 districts- Angul, Balasore, Bhadrak, Bolangir, Boudh, Deogarh, Dhenkanal, Gajapati, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Kandhamal, Kendrapara, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Nayagarh, Nuapada and Sambalpur- recorded less than average rainfall during the month of July.

However, Bargarh, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Ganjam, Kalahandi, Khurda, Nabarangpur, Malkanagiri, Puri, Rayagada and Sonepur (11 districts) received normal precipitation in July. While June had 7.4 rainy days against the normal average of 9.9 days, July recorded 13.7 rainy days, the letter read.

In view of the scanty rainfall, the government has released water in canals for meeting the irrigation requirements. Earlier, the state Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Sudam Marandi had informed that the government will take action as per the provisions of the crop contingency plan taking into account the amount of rainfall received by the State in the coming days.