IMD sticks to above normal monsoon forecast for 2016

Says monsoon is expected to arrive in India in 4-5 days; the North-Eastern Region is expected to get 94% of rainfall which is 'below normal'

Ruling out the possibility of a deficient monsoon, India Meteorological Department today said 96 per cent chances are that the rainfall this year would be normal to excess.

Releasing the second long-range forecast, IMD Director General Laxman Singh Rathore said North-West India will recieve 108 per cent rainfall of the Long Period Average while central India and southern peninsula will recieve 113 per cent of LPA.

The North-Eastern Region is expected to get 94 per cent of rainfall which is "below normal".

Anything less than 90 per cent of the LPA is termed as a "deficient" monsoon and 90-96 per cent of the LPA is rated as "below normal". Monsoon is considered "normal" if the LPA is between 96 and 104 per cent of the LPA.

"Above normal" monsoon is between 104-110 per cent of the LPA and anything beyond 110 per cent is considered "excess".

Agriculture, which contributes 15 per cent to India's GDP and employs about 60 per cent of the country's population, is heavily dependent on the monsoon as only 40 per cent of the cultivable area is under irrigation.

Due to poor monsoon in 2015-16 crop year (July-June), 10 states have declared drought and the Centre has sanctioned about Rs 10,000 crore by way of relief to help the farmers.