With the onset of monsoon around the corner and only 99mm of rainfall so far, the country is experiencing the second driest pre-monsoon spell in 65 years, India Meteorological Department (IMD) data shows.Since 1954 — when the country experienced 93.9mm of rainfall in the pre-monsoon season of March, April and May — showers have dipped below the three-figure mark only in 2009 (99mm), 2012 (the driest at 90.5mm) and 2019 (99mm).The highest deficiency has been witnessed in Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha in Maharashtra, Konkan-Goa, Gujarat, Saurashtra and Kutch, coastal Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry, among others.Parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, western Uttar Pradesh, north interior Karnataka, Telangana, and Rayalaseema (in Andhra Pradesh) also recorded deficient pre-monsoon rainfall, though it was better than what the entirety of Maharashtra experienced.Pulak Guhathakurta, head of Climate Application and User Interface at IMD’s Office of Climate Research and Services, told TOI that past research has revealed a trend of dipping premonsoon rainfall over the past century in western India, especially Maharashtra. “However, such a trend has not been observed across the entire country till now. This may have something to do with the shifting of the rainfall pattern,” Guhathakurta said.He said pre-monsoon rains were mainly important for agriculture, groundwater recharge and to maintain soil moisture. "Pre-monsoon rains tend to allay some of the severe water shortage problem in a region. Even deficient pre-monsoon rainfall can go a long way in maintaining the soil moisture necessary for agriculture. Over the past 11 years, Maharashtra got most of its monsoon rainfall in just one or two months, with heavy to very heavy showers in short bursts. This poses a flood risk and also, much of the water is wasted," he explained."In the four regions of the country, the maximum premonsoon rainfall deficiency has been witnessed in the southern peninsula (-48% ), followed by northwest India (-29%), Central India (-17%) and east and northeast India (-12%). Parts of north Rajasthan, northern and central MP, southern UP, southern Punjab and Haryana, had good rains,” Anupam Kashyapi from IMD, Pune, said.