Monsoon likely to become active next week, spur kharif sowing: IMD

With the pick-up in rains, the seasonal cumulative deficit will also go down over the next few weeks

After a slow start, the southwest monsoon that reached Mumbai over the weekend is expected to gather steam next week, leading to a quick decline of the seasonal deficit and spurring planting of kharif crops, the weatherman said.

“Every monsoon is different from the previous, and the next week onwards, that is, around June 14-15, we should see a significant uptick in rains with the monsoon expected to cover most of East India and the beginning of good pre-monsoon activity over Vidarbha, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat. This should lead to gradual easing of the heat wave over North India in next