Ranchi, Sep 14 (PTI) Widespread rain including spells of heavy showers lashed parts of Jharkhand including Ranchi on Thursday under the influence of a low pressure and trough line, a weather official said.

As per the prediction of Ranchi Meteorological Centre, the ongoing shower might continue till Friday and its intensity might decline from Saturday, the official said.

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"Monsoon turns active over Jharkhand again. Major parts of the state, mainly south-western and central, witnessed widespread rainfall on Thursday due to impact of a well-marked low pressure over northwest Bay of Bengal and a monsoon trough," Meteorological centre in-charge Abhishek Anand said.

He said the low pressure is likely to move across Odisha and Chhattisgarh during the next two days.

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"The rain intensity is likely to be high on Thursday and Friday due to the trough, which now runs from northeast Rajasthan to the centre of a well marked low pressure area over northwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining north Odisha-West Bengal coasts across north Madhya Pradesh, southeast Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand," he said.

Jharkhand's highest rainfall of 77.2mm was recorded at Meral in Garhwa district, while 39mm was recorded in Daltonganj.

Anand said the ongoing showers are likely to reduce rainfall deficit, which is at 34 per cent in the state.

Jharkhand has received 602.4mm rainfall from June 1 to September 14 against a normal of 913.2 mm during the period. Chatra is facing the maximum deficit at 63 per cent, followed by Hazaribag and Gumla at 53 and 51 per cent, respectively.

According to the agriculture expert, the rainfall would help the standing crop but not help in increasing sowing coverage.

Due to scanty rainfall in early monsoon, paddy sowing coverage reached 61.75 per cent, while overall sowing for kharif crops including paddy, maize, oilseeds, pulses and coarse cereals was recorded at 60.75 per cent.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)