All havoc, no rain as Met revises its forecast

Patna,(BiharTimes): The director of Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Patna, A K Sen, on Sunday scaled down the fear of ‘havoc rain’ in north Bihar.

The announcement came after a week of panic caused by its forecast of havoc rain. It was predicted that torrential rain would start from Sep 9 onward and may lash a large part of north Bihar for 48 hours or even more.

The department had also asked the state government to gear up to meet any eventuality as ‘havoc rain’ would have only worsened the flood situation in the state.

The warning prompted the state government to swing into action and call a high level meeting on Saturday.

But on Sunday Sen said that there is now a very remote possibility of heavy to very heavy rainfall as a low pressure area has formed over west-central Bay of Bengal. This low pressure has reduced the moisture incursion in India-Nepal border districts and also weakened the monsoon trough passing through the region. Though this phenomenon will cause some heavy rainfall, it is unlikely to cause any calamity. Once this low pressure area crosses over to Odisha and Andhra Pradesh coast after 72 hours, the Met will be able to gauge the rainfall scenario. As for the present, there is no need to panic, he told the media.

He also said there was an associated cyclonic circulation extending up to mid-troposphere level, tilting southwest wards. This may help to bring light to moderate rainfall in the districts of south and central Bihar, which have been dry for the last five-six days.

However, despite revised forecast by Met department the disaster management department and water resources department have asked the respective disrtrict magistrates of 28 flood-prone and more flood-prone districts to remain on high alert.