Rainfall deficit narrows to 7 per cent

PUNE: India's overall rainfall deficit on Monday narrowed to 7 per cent, with heavy monsoon rains last week. This will be further reduced to about 4 per cent by August 8-9 with widespread showers intensifying throughout the country.

The rainfall deficit was around 30 per cent at the start of July.

"Monsoon rains have intensified and spread out fairly wide which will continue right upto August 8-9," Anupam Kashyapi, head of weather at India Meteorological Department or IMD, Pune told Financial Chronicle.

The IMD has also predicted normal rains for the last two months of the season - August and September.

Monsoon rains are the lifeblood of India's $2.6 trillion economy, spurring farm output and boosting rural spending to buy goods from phones, refrigerators to automobiles and tractors.

The weather man said a low pressure area has formed over north Bay of Bengal and adjoining coastal areas of Bangladesh & West Bengal. It is likely to become more marked during next 48 hours. Monsoon trough continues to pass along its near normal position. It is likely to remain active during next 3-4 days, he pointed out.

"Fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls are very likely over Odisha, south Chhattisgarh, south Madhya Pradesh, Madhya Maharashtra, south Konkan & Goa, Gujarat Region, Kerala, Karnataka and northern parts of Andhra Pradesh & Telangana during next 4-5 days," the IMD said in its latest update.

Isolated extremely heavy falls are also likely over south Konkan on Monday, ghats area of Madhya Maharashtra on 5th, 6th & 8th August, south Odisha & south Chhattisgarh on 6th & 7th August, south Madhya Pradesh on 7th & 8th August, Coastal & South Interior Karnataka on 7th & 8th August, Kerala on 8th August and over Gujarat on 8th & 9th August.

Kashyapi said fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with isolated heavy falls are likely over East and Northeast India, western Himalayan region and along West coast on August 10-12. He said scattered to fairly widespread rains were likely over the rest of the country except over southeast peninsular India, where rainfall is likely to be isolated.

The IMD said quantitatively, the rainfall over the country as a whole during the second half of the season in August and Sept is likely to be 100 per cent of the long period average (LPA) with a model error of plus or minus 8 per cent.

The rainfall during August is likely to be 99 per cent and the season's June to September over the country as a whole is likely to be normal at 96 per cent. The IMD defines average, or normal, rainfall as between 96 per cent and 104 per cent of a 50-year average of 89 centimetres for the entire four-month season beginning June 1.

During July 25 to 31, rains were 42 per cent above long period average (LPA) for country as a whole, clocking one of the best weeks in the 2019 monsoon season. Northwest & Central India also received above LPA by 50 per cent & 85 per cent respectively.

Till last week, planting of Kharif crops such as rice, pulses, coarse cereals covered 78.85 million hectors as compared to 84.42 million hectors during the same period last year, the Ministry of Agricultural data showed.