New Delhi: After a week-long dry spell, the crucial monsoon is expected to bring showers over many places in central and eastern India as conditions were favourable for rainfall in these regions.
“A low pressure area has formed over northwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining coastal areas of Odisha and West Bengal. It would move west-northwestwards across Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh,” the weather office said.
Rainy days ahead. Simantik Dowerah/Firstpost
As a result, rainfall would occur at many places over east and central India on many days of the week, it said. The regions cover Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and parts of Jharkhand and Bihar.
Weather scientists said monsoon would remain active for the rest of this month raising hopes of farmers who may heave a sigh of relief.
According to data released this evening, the country had received 22 percent deficient rains this season. It showed that 63 percent of the area of the country has received deficient or scanty rainfall.
The weather office has not given any indication of revising its forecast for the season. In April, it had forecast 96 percent rains of the long period average for this season but revised it marginally to 93 percent in June.
Monsoon is crucial for India’s trillion-dollar agri-based economy as more than half of the country’s farm land depends on the seasonal rains for irrigation.
Rains are important to fill the depleting reservoirs and for maintaining soil moisture for rabi crops.
The total storage in 84 major reservoirs in the country is 19 per cent of the total capacity as against 32.2 percent a year ago.
PTI
