Excess of 21 per cent rains in country since onset of monsoon

NEW DELHI: India has received an excess of 21 per cent rainfall since the onset of the monsoon this year with 20 sub-divisions registering surplus rains which include Vidarbha, Telangana, Gujarat and most of the northern states.

The rainfall received was 21 per cent in excess between June 1 and July 8, said the weather office.

However, the northeastern states continued to receive deficient showers along with Jharkhand even as rain activity in other eastern states picked up over the period.

Timely onset of monsoon and its quick progress across the country had imparted much-needed moisture to the soil enabling farmers to prepare for kharif crop.

Excess rainfall has been received in south interior Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Madhya Maharashtra, eastern and western Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat along with Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand.

Normal rain activity has been recorded in 12 subdivisions which include Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Rayalaseema, north interior Karnataka and Marathwada, Haryana and west Rajasthan, the weather office said.

The southwest monsoon, it said, has been active over Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, coastal and north interior Karnataka, Assam and Meghalaya and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

It has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places over SubHimalayan West Bengal and Sikkim during next 48 hours and at one or two places for subsequent 24 hours. Heavy to very heavy rainfall would occur at one or two places over Assam and Meghalaya during next 48 hours.