Monsoon set to pick up pace

PUNE: The monsoon rains, lifeblood of India's $2.5 trillion economy, spurring farm output and boosting rural spending, is likely to be above normal over Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telengana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha and many parts of northeastern states till July 3, the India Meteorological Department or IMD has forecast.

It is also very likely to be normal to below normal over remaining parts of the country during the week, the government-run weather agency said it its latest bulletin.

"In the last two-three days monsoon rains have picked up pace bringing relief to many dry states. And now with the low pressure building over Bay of Bengal has brought good rainfall over Madhya Maharashtra facing drought like situation. The rains also brought relief in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh," D. Sivananda Pai, India's Chief Monsoon Forecaster at IMD told Financial Chronicle.

Conditions are favourable for further advance of the monsoon rains into remaining parts of central India and some more parts of west and northwest India during July 1-3, he pointed out.

Officials said sowing of the summer crops such as cotton, rice, soyabean, corn and pulses has accelerated now. Farmers had planted crops on 9.1 million hectares, down from 12.5 per cent compared with the same period last year, latest data from Ministry of Agriculture showed.

Pai said monsoon conditions are very likely to be active to vigorous over Coastal Karnataka, Konkan and Goa, Odisha and Chhattisgarh with widespread rainfall along with heavy to very heavy falls during most days of the week.

The weatherman said the El Nino phenomena over equatorial Pacific Ocean, which dries up monsoon in the country, is weakening persistently, indicating bright prospect of monsoon rains for the whole country.

The latest IMD bulletin also said fairly widespread to widespread rainfall is very likely to occur over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura, West Bengal and Sikkim,Jharkhand, Madhya Maharashtra, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Kerala and Andaman & Nicobar Islands during the week. Moreover, isolated heavy rainfall is also likely over these areas during some days of the week, it said.

The IMD also said during July 4-10, above normal rainfall were likely to occur along west coast, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and East Rajasthan and many parts of Gujarat states. Rains would be normal to below normal over remaining parts of the country, it said.