Hyderabad: As the southwest monsoon crosses the halfway mark, rainfall across Telangana remains uneven and patchy, with as many as 17 districts recording ‘below-normal’ cumulative rainfall this season, according to data from the Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS).So far, the state has received an average of 267.9 mm of rainfall, which is about 10% short of the seasonal normal of 297.8 mm. However, most of this rain came in just the last three days, and many districts still report rainfall deficits ranging between 12% and 35%. The sharpest shortfalls have been recorded in Mancherial (-35%), Nirmal (-34%), and Nizamabad (-34%), followed by Peddapalli (-32%), Jangaon (-30%), Jagtial and Jayashankar Bhupalpally (both -28%), Kamareddy (-25%), Medchal-Malkajgiri (-22%), and Medak (-21%). Even Hyderabad, which currently falls under the ‘normal’ rainfall category, has seen a deviation of -19%, bringing it close to being marked deficient. Meteorologists attribute this disparity to weak and inconsistent monsoon currents across the region. “Several districts got heavy but isolated spells in recent days, but lacked the sustained rainfall needed to meet monthly averages,” said Y.V. Rama Rao, Senior Meteorologist at TSDPS. “We need continuity, not just intensity.” A turnaround, experts say, is still possible. “If a low-pressure system forms over the Bay of Bengal and moves inland, it could trigger widespread rain by early August,” Rama Rao added. Weather experts warn that such erratic patterns with prolonged dry spells followed by short bursts of intense rain are becoming more frequent. “It’s not unusual now to have extreme rainfall packed into a few days, while the rest of the month remains dry,” said AVM Sharam, meteorologist at Skymet, an independent weather forecasting agency.Even Mulugu, which saw over 200 mm of rain in a single day — the highest so far this season — remains in the deficit category with 15% less rainfall than normal. “This shows that isolated downpours don’t paint the full picture. It’s the overall accumulation that matters,” said an official from the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
