Chandigarh, October 10: Punjab and Haryana, known as the grain bowl states of India, received close to normal monsoon rains this year, a meteorological department official said here on Wednesday. The south-west monsoon, which has withdrawn from the two states, including Chandigarh, on October 1, had turned quite active in the final phase and both the states received heavy rainfall between September 22 and 24, the official said. In the last three year, both Punjab and Haryana had witnessed monsoon rain deficit in the range of 25-30 per cent. But this year, overall the two states received good rains, though some districts faced deficit. During the June 1-September 30 period, seven per cent excess rainfall lashed Punjab, which received 527.4 mm rains as against normal of 491.5 mm, the weather department official told PTI. Authorities Issues Red Alert Following Heavy Rain, Schools, Colleges to Stay Shut.

During the same period, Haryana received 415.2 mm of rains as against a normal of 460.4 mm -- a deficit of 10 per cent. However, during the same period, Chandigarh received 18 per cent rains in excess at 993.3 mm against normal of 844.2 mm, he said. In Punjab, Mohali, Gurdaspur, Ludhiana, Patiala and Jalandhar received good rainfall this year while, Amritsar and Ferozepur were among the districts that received deficit rains. In Haryana, Karnal, Mewat and Mahendergarh received rainfall in excess while Ambala, Bhiwani, Rohtak, Gurgaon and Faridabad were among the districts to receive deficit rains, the weatherman said. Floodgates of Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh Opened After a Decade Water Level Crosses Danger Mark.