An uneven monsoon across India

IMD said it is set to cut estimates for average monsoon rain after decades of below-normal rain.

Floods in Bihar and Assam have claimed at least 170 lives with 10.7 million people still reeling under the effect of the deluge.

A woman rows a makeshift raft as girls wade through flood waters at the Laharighat village in Morigaon district, in the northeastern state of Assam, July 21, 2019.(REUTERS)

Of Shortage And Abundance

While emergency water supplies were needed in drought-hit Chennai a few weeks ago, in the north and northeastern parts of the country heavy rains through July have killed hundreds of people with many districts in Bihar and Assam cut off because of flooding.

 

Rains incoming

It will be a rainy week pan-India with the “break” monsoon-like condition ending, according to the private weather forecaster Skymet. This spell of rain is likely to continue for another 10 days. “Yes, rainfall is subdued and there will be an increase in the rainfall activity over the next two days,” said Mrityunjay Mohapatra, IMD director general.

Cutting Down Expectations

IMD said it is set to cut estimates for average monsoon rain after decades of below-normal rain. “If you take an average of 30 to 40 years, compared to say a 100 years of normal rainfall, we are passing through a below-normal rainfall,” IMD climate research chief Sivananda Pai said.