Hyderabad clocks worst start to monsoon in 13 years

Hyderabad: Even as the monsoon arrived early this year, Hyderabad recorded its driest June in over a decade, with rainfall falling short by more than 73%, the steepest deficit since 2011. With just 29 mm of rain received against a normal average of 105 mm, the city was categorised as ‘Large Deficient,’ making it one of only two districts to fall under this bracket along with Medchal-Malkajgiri district until June 30.

Official data from the Telangana Development Society shows that 15 of 16 mandals in the city fell under the ‘Large Deficient’ category, with just one, Khairatabad, classified as ‘Deficient’. Ameerpet, Secunderabad, and Tirumalgiri reported a complete dry spell with zero rainfall and a 100% shortfall. Other areas such as Marredpally (-97%), Musheerabad (-77%), Amberpet, and Himayatnagar (both -88%) also recorded extremely poor rainfall. The average deviation across all mandals stood at -73%, making this June one of the worst-performing months in 11 years. In 2011, the city recorded about 71.7% less rain than expected.

“This is not just an isolated event. It’s a sign of how weak and disorganised the monsoon pattern has been this year. Several localities received negligible rainfall. Some stations recorded less than a millimetre throughout the month,” said YV Rama from Telangana Development and Planning Society.

Meteorologists point to a combination of weak monsoon currents and subdued activity over the Bay of Bengal as the main reasons behind the lack of rainfall. “There was an absence of low-pressure systems and monsoon depressions in the Bay, which are crucial for triggering rainfall over Telangana. Additionally, upper-air circulation, which normally drives cloud systems into the Deccan, was missing. However, the system changed over the past two days,” said Mahesh Palawat from Skymet, an independent weather forecast agency.

The impact of the shortfall in June was felt across the city, with several areas dependent on private water tankers, as borewells dried up due to lack of recharge until late June. However, the rain over the last two days improved the conditions, though it is still in the deficient category with a 38% deviation.

Several areas in the city recorded significantly high rainfall, with many far exceeding their normal daily averages. Amberpet topped the charts with 33.7 mm of rain. Shaikpet and Khairatabad followed close behind, logging 32.6 mm and 31.2 mm, respectively. Musheerabad received 28.8 mm, while Charminar and Saidabad recorded 30.9 mm and 28.5 mm, respectively.

Other areas such as Himayatnagar (29.7 mm), Nampally (29.2 mm), and Asifnagar (28.9 mm) also recorded strong showers. Only Tirumalagiri registered below-normal rainfall, with 5.4 mm against a normal of 7.4 mm.

The India Meteorological Department predicted light to moderate rainfall for the first week of July. “Thunderstorm accompanied with lightning is very likely to occur at isolated places in Adilabad, Komaram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial, Nirmal, Nizamabad, Jagtial, Rajanna Sirisilla, Karimnagar, Peddapalli, Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Mulugu, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Khammam, Rangareddy, Hyderabad, Medchal Malkajgiri, Vikarabad, Sangareddy, Medak, Kamareddy districts of Telangana. Strong surface winds are very likely to prevail at isolated places in all districts of Telangana,” the IMD forecast read.