Despite the delay in advance of the monsoon, India is expected to get more rains this season than earlier predicted by the weather office.
According to an update to the monsoon forecast of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), rains in the June-September period will be 102 per cent of the long-period average.
“It will be 102 per cent,” Agriculture Secretary P K Basu told reporters when asked about the quantum of rainfall the country would receive this season.
In April, IMD had said the country would receive 98 per cent of the long period average (LPA). LPA, at 89 cm, is the mean rainfall received by the country over a period of 50 years.
India had received 11 per cent less rain than normal in the June 1-23 period, even as the southwest monsoon, which had been virtually stationary in the past week, showed signs of advancing northwards.
The weather office said the country received 97.4 mm rainfall for the June 1-23 period, against the normal levels of 109.6 mm. However, weather scientists have said there is no need for alarm, as there is still hope for improvement in rainfall across the country.
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The southwest monsoon, which is nearly 10 days behind its normal schedule over North India, is expected to strengthen with the formation of a low-pressure area in the Bay of Bengal.
Since their onset on May 31, monsoon rains have made a staggered progress and stopped in their tracks due to cyclone ‘Phet’, delaying their advance by at least 10 days to the breadbasket northern region, as well as the central and northwestern parts of the country, which mainly grow oilseeds.