Weather system to turn favourable after July 6, says IMD.
Even as scattered rains continue to lash parts of Gujarat, the rainfall in the state has been deficient by over 80 per cent till Sunday. The state has received only 20.4 millimeter (mm) of rainfall till July 3, 2011 against a normal 112 mm, informed top IMD officials on Monday.
According to the Met department, the system bringing monsoon rains in the state had shifted to Rajasthan and North-West Madhya Pradesh due to an upper air circulation. The next weather system is believed to be formed in the current week and officials expect wide-spread rains in Gujarat by next week.
"Currently, there is no weather system in place that can bring monsoon across the state. The state is having a scanty monsoon. Going forward we expect monsoon conditions to revive from July 6 onwards and a favourable system will get formed after that," said Kamaljit Ray, director, India Meteorological Department (IMD) - Ahmedabad.
According to the data provided by the Met office, the state has so far received only 20.4 mm rains against a normal of 112 mm, down by 81.78 per cent.
The IMD has divided the state in two geographical regions, namely Gujarat region and Saurashtra-Kutch region. While Gujarat region includes central, north and south Gujarat, Saurashtra-Kutch region has western and north-western parts of the state. The average rainfall in the Gujarat region has been around 184.4 mm and for Saurasthra-Kutchh region the normal monsoon till the beginning of July stands at 99.2 mm.
The monsoon has been delayed in most parts of the state by close to 20 days from the met department's initial forecast of June 15. Concerns have been growing high as delayed monsoon would not only affect the agriculture sector but is also seen as a serious threat to the drinking water requirements too. Considering the gravity of the situation, the state government has decided to provide water from the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) dam on the Narmada river. Last week, the government had ordered to release 1,650 million cubic feet (mcft) or 6,300 cusec of water from SSP dam for the kharif crops. The sowing has already begun in many parts of the state.
However, the Met department is confident about having no impact on the crop due to delayed monsoon. "There shouldn't be any impact on the crop as in most of the parts the sowing will take place only after it rains. Secondly, there is no danger of a drop in the sowing area as we would see enough rains latest by the last week of July," Ray mentioned.
