Rainfall Drives Down Monsoon Deficit by 7 Per Cent in 2 Weeks

New Delhi: With a good spell of rain across the country, the overall monsoon deficiency has come down substantially by 7 per cent in two weeks.

According to the Indian Meteorological Department, the overall monsoon deficiency till August 27 was 18 per cent. However, that reduced to 15 per cent till September 3. It dipped further to 11 per cent until September 9.

"This is largely due to good rainfall across the country, including in many parts of north India. Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telengana, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and the western coast have received good rainfall," IMD Director General Laxman Singh Rathore said.

Rainfall continues to be low in the north-western India as compared to the whole country with the deficit for the division standing at 33 per cent - the highest in the country.

Deficiency in Delhi, Haryana and Chandigarh has been 54 per cent. Eastern UP has till now recorded a 55 per cent deficit, the highest for any sub-division in the country, while western UP has seen a monsoonal shortfall of 42 per cent.

However, Jammu and Kashmir received 17 per cent more rainfall than the average this season.

The deficiency in the southern peninsula till now has been at 5 per cent, which is lowest in the country, followed by 11 per cent in central India and 13 per cent in the eastern and north-eastern India.

Over the past two weeks, Karnataka, Kerela, Lakshadweep, Maharashtra received excess rainfall. Good rainfall is also attributed to a low pressure area that has brought showers to central India. In the coming weeks, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Odisha are expected to get good rainfall, Mr Rathore said, adding that September could see above normal rainfall.

It is to be noted that the monsoon deficit for the country at the end of June was 43 per cent. However, with an increase in monsoon activity in July and August, the shortfall slowly started to decrease.