NEW DELHI: Monsoon remained slightly below expectations in the first month of the rainy season as June ended with a countrywide deficit of 11 per cent, mainly on account of a delayed onset. Despite the deficit, however, rains have been in the normal to excess range in around two-thirds of India’s 36 meteorological subdivisions.
“The deficit in June was mainly due to the eight-day delay in monsoon’s onset. It progressed well after that but did not perform as expected in central India. But the shortfall should be made up in July,” said D Sivananda Pai, lead monsoon forecaster at the India Meteorological Department.
The Met department expects rains to pick up in July, the most crucial month of the season for kharif sowing. Monsoon’s performance in July is also important for water recharge as it accounts for almost a third of the total seasonal rainfall. By contrast, June normally gets only around 18 per cent of the total monsoon rains.
“The monsoon hit the country only on June 8. So, we have got just about three weeks of monsoon rains so far. By that measure, an 11 per cent shortfall is well within range,” said B P Yadav, director, IMD. Among the meteorological regions of the country, south India received the best rain bounty, with 22 per cent excess rains in June.
Although the monsoon is yet to arrive in many parts of northwest India, the region had just a 2.4 per cent rain shortfall because of fairly good pre-monsoon showers in states such as Punjab. The highest shortfall was in east and northeast India, where June ended with a 27.3 per cent deficit. The performance wasn’t totally unexpected because the region is predicted to receive less rains this year.
