No threat of rains disrupting Games

No threat of rains disrupting Games

P. Sunderarajan


NEW DELHI: Those in charge of the Commonwealth Games can now breathe easy, at least on the weather front. The southwest monsoon has begun to withdraw and there is no chance of rains disrupting the Games, barring a freak phenomenon.

The India Meteorological Department on Monday announced that the system had withdrawn from some parts of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat and was likely to further withdraw from Delhi and several other parts of north India during the next two-three days.

The seemingly unending rains over Delhi and the upper reaches of the Yamuna had threatened to derail the sporting event. There were apprehensions that the rains could continue at least till the beginning of the Games if not during them as well.

Normally, the system begins withdrawing by September 1, should have cleared out of a major part of north India by this time. But this year has been an unusual one. September has seen one of the heaviest rainfalls across the country, particularly over north India — as of September 22, the country recorded 28 per cent more rainfall than the long period average for the month.

According to the latest bulletin, apart from Delhi, the system should withdraw completely from Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and some parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, besides the remaining parts of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat during the next two-three days.

As for the rest of India, fairly widespread rain or thundershowers would occur over Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, the Konkan, Goa, sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, the northeastern States, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep, and scattered rain or thundershowers over interior Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Gangetic West Bengal, and south Chhattisgarh up to September 30. .









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