Dry spell haunts mandals in Ranga Reddy

Rangareddy : As persistent dry spell in Ranga Reddy district continues, three more mandals have joined the list with deficit rainfall as they failed to receive showers this season.

So far Balapur is the only mandal that topped the list in all 27mandals in the district. Three more--Maheshwaram, Shamshabad and Abdullahpurmet--joined the list.

According to official statistics, Balapur mandal received 368.1 mm cumulative rainfall as on October 19 (662.7 mm normal) ever since the season set in. This squarely calculates a -44.5 per cent deficit throughout the season.

As Balapur holds the top position in the list for almost five months, the three mandals joined the list this month-- Maheshwaram -22.1 per cent deficit, Shamshabad -29.1 percent and Abdullahpurmet -38.5 per cent.

Maheshwaram received 493.9 mm rainfall as on October 19 (normal 634.4mm) during the same period. This has brought the collective deficit to -22.1 per cent this season. Shamshabad received 502.2 mm as on Thursday against normal 708.5 mm-- a collective deficit of -29.1 per cent.

Nothing different is the situation of Abdullahpurmet which received 403.8 mm, as against normal 656.3 mm. As such, the mandal received -38.5 per cent deficit rainfall so far this year.

Going by the prevailing scenario, experts are attributing the dry spell in next-to-city enclaves to multiple reasons, including brazen tree cutting, vanishing forest cover and groundwater exploitation due to rapidly growing human habitation over the years.