Monsoon revival is on cards after lull

The lull in the south-west monsoon, which has virtually scalded Delhi and much of north India, is expected to be over by Friday. But the outlook for the rest of the season for this region does not appear to be bright.

The current low phase in the monsoon is a result of shifting of the monsoon trough to north of its normal position, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday.

From Friday onwards, the trough is expected to shift southwards, which will make the monsoon active. In addition, a rain-inducing system - an upper air cyclonic circulation - has formed over north of Bay of Bengal.



As of now, the country is rain-deficient by 22 per cent with 40 per cent deficiency in the northwest.

Central India is deficient by 26 per cent and south by 24 per cent. East and north-east India are deficient by five per cent.

"North-west India - Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, west UP and Uttarakhand - has been rain-deficient. Conditions for north-west India are not good for now. Though rain activity will increase now, but we need more rains," L. S. Rathore, director general, IMD, said.

Parts of interior Karnataka and Gujarat have had scant rainfall as well.

"Rains are expected in east UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Orissa over the next two days. Subsequently, rains will shift to central India and then to north-west India by July 23-24," S. C. Bhan, director, IMD said. There could be thunderstorm in Delhi on Friday.

Agricultural scientists said that the situation of kharif crop in the north-west is not good since there were no pre-monsoon showers. Generally, there are sufficient pre-monsoon rains before June-end leading to sowing of kharif crop such as paddy, pulses (arhar, mung, urad, lobhia and moth bean), bajra, maize and sugarcane.

"If it starts raining, losses can be recovered," J. P. S. Dabas, senior scientist, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, said.

So far, only 60-70 per cent of paddy has been transplanted, which is not good in terms of the quality of standing crop in northwest India due to lack of rains, a scientist said.

Other kharif crops are also not in a good situation since temperatures have been high due to lack of rains.

Courtesy: Mail Today