Rain revival not uniform

The southwest monsoon seems to have picked up pace, narrowing the country deficit in rainfall to around 24 per cent of the normal figure as of Tuesday. However, the improvement hasn't been uniform.

Data from India Meteorological Department shows pockets of distress remain in Marathwada, Telangana, parts of Gujarat, west Rajasthan and west Uttar Pradesh. Cumulative rainfall in these regions have been 57 per cent, 46 per cent, 40 per cent, 30 per cent and 46 per cent below normal, respectively, over June 1 to July 29.

Though there has been much improvement since June in these parts, they have yet not come out of the danger zone and could pose a challenge unless the areas get heavy showers from here on.

In a related development, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology has said fear of an El Niño weather effect, impacting rain here, has clearly eased in recent weeks.

Officials said the country's cumulative rain deficit might come down to below 20 per cent if the revival in rainfall maintains momentum in the next few days.