Monsoon to weaken till August 20 over entire country, says Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology

PUNE: According to the latest forecast issued by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), after staying active for one or two days over central India, monsoon to weaken over the entire country for next 15 to 20 days.

The Pune-based research institute has been issuing the extended range forecast for next 20 to 25 days from last few years on experimental basis. The current forecast based on the initial conditions of August 4 says, "A fresh spell of good rainfall will propagate from Indian ocean to Southern Peninsula around August 20 and central India around August 25.

A break in rains will be useful for crops in north and central India, which have received excess rainfall. But for the southern peninsula, weakening of monsoon for 15 to 20 days does not augur well as large parts in this region have already received deficient rains. States like Maharashtra is going to spend Rs 27 crore on cloud seeding with the hopes of getting some rains in the parched lands of Marathwada, where rains are required for drinking water and growing fodder crops as also for the next rabi season.