Relief for parties as rain may ease from tomorrow

Patna: The ongoing election campaign in Bihar has been severely disrupted as Cyclone Montha continues to lash all districts with intermittent rain for the past three days, throwing rallies and outreach events off schedule.

The downpour, which has soaked the capital and other districts since Thursday, has slowed canvassing by major political parties ahead of next week’s polling.According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) in Patna, light showers are expected to persist until Sunday and a significant change is expected from Monday when the weather is likely to turn dry.This year, Bihar has recorded an unusually high 153.9mm of rainfall in Oct — far above the 19.5 mm received in 2024 and higher than the 94.6mm in 2023, 81.8mm in 2022 and 189.6mm in 2021.

The rain, intensified by Cyclone Montha, has also affected the movement of campaign teams and ground mobilisation efforts in several constituencies.Anand Shanker, a weather scientist at IMD Patna, said the widespread rainfall had led to a noticeable drop in temperatures. “Gradually, the clouds will clear in the next three to four days, and thereafter, the maximum temperature will increase,” he said.The IMD bulletin issued on Saturday said maximum temperatures would rise by three to six degrees Celsius over the next 72 hours before stabilising.

However, the minimum temperature is expected to remain unchanged over the next four to five days.Isolated rainfall is likely to continue in parts of north-central, north-east, south-central and south-east Bihar, including districts such as Bhagalpur, Banka, Patna, Gaya, Nalanda, Sheikhpura, Supaul, Araria, Kishanganj, Madhepura, Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Vaishali, Sheohar, Samastipur, Saharsa, Purnea, Katihar, Jamui, Munger, Khagaria, Nawada, Begusarai, Lakhisarai and Jehanabad.Recent readings show that the maximum temperature has stayed below 30°C for two consecutive days, with Banka recording the highest at 27.4°C on Friday and Rajgir registering 27.1°C on Thursday. Khagaria recorded the highest rainfall at 170 mm in the past 24 hours, while most other districts received moderate to heavy showers.