Widespread rain, thunderstorm lash Bihar

Widespread rains accompanied by gusts of over 50 km per hour lashed Bihar today afternoon bringing down the soaring temperatures.
The spell provided relief to people from what seemed to be an early onset of summer, but at the same time played havoc with the Rabi crop and fruits like litchi and mango in the state.
Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) Director at Patna, A K Sen said "It can be called a squall. North Northwesterly (NNW) winds of up to 50 km per hour accompanied with rainfall started near south of Patna and moved towards northeastern parts of the state."

Sen said Patna received 18 mm of rainfall and showers were reported from Katihar and Purnia districts located in the northeast of the state.
He said that rains touched a major portion of Bihar, barring its southwestern parts.
"These rains happened due to a condition in which strong easterlies set over Bihar leading to an increase in moisture content and temperature going above 35 deg C. It is a common feature at the time of changing seasons," Sen said.

The IMD Director predicted the weather would open up tomorrow and lead to westerly winds blowing over Bihar. It would lead to dryness and lower temperatures.

Meanwhile, agriculture scientists said the widespread rains would cause much destruction of Rabi and fruit crops in the state.
"Wheat, mustard, chickpea, lentil and other Rabi season crops in the harvesting stage will suffer. Places where these crops were sown late, will suffer even more. All this will lead to a drop in the yield," said K M Singh, Head of the Department of Agriculture Economics at Rajendra Agriculture University (RAU), Pusa.
Singh said rains during this season were not a welcome sign and they would also have a negative impact on litchi and mango crops, which were currently in the flowering stage.

"Had these rains come after a month, they would have proved beneficial to the crops and brought happiness to the farmers, but today's rains will bring sorrow," Singh added.