Rainfall to improve soon: Met Office

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) predicts that the monsoon situation is likely to improve soon. “The monsoon deficiency stands at 22 per cent now. It will fill up in the coming days as monsoon is likely to improve in the eastern, central and Indo-Gangetic plains. The North-east, East-coast and Central India are getting fair amount of rain,” said IMD director general L S Rathore.

From June 1 to July 26, 51 per cent of the total area of the country has received deficient rainfall, 12 per cent area has received scanty rainfall, 36 per cent area received normal rainfall and 1 per cent of the area received excess rainfall. The worst affected states in India due to less rainfall are Karnataka, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Kerala, Gujarat and Maharashtra while Tamil Nadu and Kerala have been badly affected.

In South India, from June to July 26, South Interior Karnataka got 47 per cent less rainfall than normal, North Interior Karnataka got 35 per cent less and coastal Karnataka too got 22 per cent less. Tamil Nadu and Puducherry got 24 per cent less rainfall, Kerala got 39 per cent less and Odisha received 14 per cent less. Coastal Andhra Pradesh received 4 per cent excess rainfall, Telangana got 1 per cent excess, Rayalaseema got 3 per cent less.

On an all-India basis, from June 1 to July 23, the areas that have got scanty rainfall are Haryana, Punjab, West Rajasthan, Saurashtra and Kutch. While the ones that have got deficient rainfall are Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, East Rajasthan, West Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Coastal Karnataka, North Interior Karnataka, South Interior Karnataka and Kerala.

The areas in the country that have received normal rainfall from June 1 to July 23 are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, East Madhya Pradesh, Konkan and Goa, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Andaman and Nicobar islands, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rayalaseema, Lakshadweep.

The areas that have received excess rainfall are Sub Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim. IMD prediction till July 29 states that rain and thundershowers would occur at many places over east and central India, west coast, Andaman and Nicobar islands and Lakshadweep. North-eastern states, interior peninsular India, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Gujarat region would get rainfall or thundershowers.