Met spreads cheer, predicts good rains

A robustly advancing monsoon, crucial to the economy, will likely remain plentiful and normal for the rest of the season, especially during the critical sowing month of July, the Met department said in an updated forecast on Friday. Zia Haq reports.

A robustly advancing monsoon, crucial to the economy, will likely remain plentiful and normal for the rest of the season, especially during the critical sowing month of July, the Met department said in an updated forecast on Friday.

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The rain-bearing system has covered more than half of the country so far.

In its update, the Met kept its forecast for the summer rains for the remaining season unchanged at 98% of the country’s 50-year average of 89 cm. Falls between 96% and 100% are considered normal.

Rainfall for July, a month of intense farm activity, is likely to be slightly above average at 101%, while in August it is likely to be 96%, with 9% margin of error, Met said.

The summer rains are critical for India, Asia’s third biggest economy, because two-thirds of Indians depend on farm income and nearly 60% of farmlands do not have irrigation facilities.

For good farm output, the rains need to be evenly spread.

A region wise distribution picture of the monsoon shows that all parts of the country will have adequate rains, except for the northwestern region, which may get comparatively low rains. However, grain bowl states like Punjab won’t be impacted due to an extensive access to irrigation.