Weather scientists, however, said there was no reason to worry as a couple of good spells could change the scenario and wipe out the deficit.
"Till now, monsoon rains are 26 per cent deficient. But we are not worried as such delays are usual," Laxman Singh Rathore, Director General, India Meteorological Department (IMD) told reporters here.
He said no "large northward migration" of monsoon was expected for the next three to four days as the flows were affected by atmospheric storm 'Talim'.
Rathore said it was okay if the monsoon was delayed by 7-8 days. "I am not worried," he said.
The IMD will issue an update to its monsoon forecast tomorrow amid indications that it would downgrade the prediction of normal monsoon it had made in April.
Some other weather scientists did not share Rathore's optimism.
"There is a need to worry, but no need for an alarm," a weather scientist said, pointing out that the monsoon has been deficient in June in the recent years and rains usually picked up pace by July.
"If it does not pick up by July 15, then we should be worried and take policy steps to put in mitigation measures," he said.
Since the onset, the country on the whole has received 67.4 mm rainfall as against the normal of 90.6 mm for the period of June 1-20.
