📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Mukkti Foundation
Weather
Rajasthan sees over 20% rainfall shortfall, worst in 16 years
✍️ Business Standard
🗓 29 Oct 2026, 07:16 PM
👁 15
The state recorded a rainfall deficit exceeding 20%, marking the steepest shortfall since 2008.
Rajasthan's meteorological department reported that the monsoon season delivered more than a 20% shortfall in rainfall compared with long‑term averages, the deepest deficit recorded in the past sixteen years. The data, released by the state’s climate agency, shows that the current monsoon delivered only about 80% of the expected precipitation for the region.
Agricultural analysts warn that the deficit could strain water supplies for the state's largely agrarian economy, especially in districts that depend on rain‑fed farming. Crops such as bajra, mustard and pulses may face lower yields, prompting concerns over food security and farmer incomes.
State officials have announced emergency measures, including the release of water from reservoirs, accelerated groundwater recharge projects, and the distribution of drought‑relief kits to vulnerable villages. The department also urged farmers to adopt water‑saving irrigation techniques to mitigate the impact of the shortfall.
Comparisons with the 2008 monsoon, which also recorded a similar deficit, highlight a worrying trend of increasing variability in rainfall patterns across the arid and semi‑arid zones of Rajasthan.
Agricultural analysts warn that the deficit could strain water supplies for the state's largely agrarian economy, especially in districts that depend on rain‑fed farming. Crops such as bajra, mustard and pulses may face lower yields, prompting concerns over food security and farmer incomes.
State officials have announced emergency measures, including the release of water from reservoirs, accelerated groundwater recharge projects, and the distribution of drought‑relief kits to vulnerable villages. The department also urged farmers to adopt water‑saving irrigation techniques to mitigate the impact of the shortfall.
Comparisons with the 2008 monsoon, which also recorded a similar deficit, highlight a worrying trend of increasing variability in rainfall patterns across the arid and semi‑arid zones of Rajasthan.