New Delhi:
Rainfall in the country for the current monsoon season would be 93 per cent of the long period average, which is below normal, the Indian government told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
In a written reply, Indian Minister of State for Earth Science Jitendra Singh said, "The rainfall for the country as a whole for the current monsoon season is estimated to be 93 per cent of long period average, which is below normal."
"Quantitatively, the seasonal rainfall (June-September) for the country as a whole is likely to be 93 per cent of the long period average (LPA) within a range of plus or minus 4 per cent," he said.
"The rainfall deficiencies observed over Northwest India, Central India, South Peninsula and NE India were 55 per cent, 61 per cent, 37 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively from respective LPAs.
"The observed rainfall deficiency during June was caused by delayed arrival of monsoon over Kerala and slow progress subsequently while covering the country," Singh said.
He added that the formation of cyclone "Nanauk" over the Arabian Sea during the second week of June has disturbed the monsoon advancement and hence delayed the arrival of monsoon to the central and north India, thus causing deficient monsoon rains in June.
North-West, which covers Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh would get 85 per cent of LPA.
Northeast India is expected to get 99 per cent of the LPA while Central India, which covers Gujarat State, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra is expected to get 94 per cent rainfall.