Monsoon revives, soaks northern states

After stalling twice, India’s southwest monsoon moved into Delhi in the small hours of Monday and covered most parts of the food bowl states, such as UP, Haryana and Punjab, bringing cheer.

After stalling twice, India’s southwest monsoon moved into Delhi in the small hours of Monday and covered most parts of the food bowl states, such as UP, Haryana and Punjab, bringing cheer.

The June-September rain system had snapped on June 19 over Madhya Pradesh, keeping the country on tenterhooks. It was seen recovering last Friday and then tripped again. The rains are critical for India, Asia’s third-biggest economy, where two-thirds of Indians depend on farm income.

Most of north India, which had not experienced monsoon so far, will get sharp showers, including the national capital, which was soaked by a pre-monsoon downpour on Sunday.

The rains will bolster planting of paddy, soybean, pulses and coarse cereals in major states. Summer crops account for nearly half of India’s annual farm output.

Among the northern states, sharp showers are expected in Haryana and Punjab, the largest grain-producers, but the rains will be weakest in UP, the Met official said.

In June, monsoon was 16 per cent deficient over all. However, it is expected to cover the whole country in the next four days.

The Met’s latest update has predicted “widespread rain and thundershowers” in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, east Rajasthan, UP, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.

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