ISLAMABAD, March 8: The mother nature seems getting more harsh as the meteorological department has traced hints of a return of El Nino phenomenon to the country.

El Nino, a phenomenon which lasts at least two years, promises only suppressed rain in monsoon and extra shower in winter, a Met official told Dawn.

The return of El Nino is highly ominous for the country already suffering an acute shortage of irrigation water, and any variation in the cotton-growing season of Rabi can have serious implication for the economy.

“There are strong indications of the return of El Nino conditions during the next few months,” the Met office said.

The director-general of Pakistan Meteorological Department, Qamruzzaman Chaudhry, said that early signs had already started appearing like the warming of Pacific Ocean, heavy rainfall and flooding in Peru in February.

The heavy rainfall in Peru in the first two months of the year is one indication of the return of El Nino, another Met official said. He pointed out that El Nino had earlier struck in 1997 and receded in 1999.

The Met office, he said, had been analyzing temperatures and rainfall in South America and added that from these analysis they had picked up sings of El Nino return.