Monsoon deficiency comes down to 33 pc; active monsoon week ahead

June ended with 33 per cent of monsoon precipitation and over 78 per cent of meteorological subdivision recording "deficient" rainfall, according to the India Meteorological Department.

However, monsoon is likely to become active this week.

IMD's Additional Director-General Mrutyunjay Mahapatra said formation of a low pressure in the Bay of Bengal will bring good rainfall to central India, including Odisha and parts of Rajasthan.

Parts of north India like Delhi, Punjab and Haryana may not benefit due to this low pressure area and it is unlikely that these states will get rainfall because of it, Mahapatra said.

Private weather forecaster Skymet's Managing Director Jatin Singh said monsoon surge is expected from June 30 to July 15 with a short break in between.

This spell would be a result of a low pressure area which is likely to form in the Bay of Bengal. Odisha, north coastal Andhra Pradesh, south Chhattisgarh, northern parts of Telangana, south Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha region, parts of central Maharashtra, southwest Madhya Pradesh, south Rajasthan and Gujarat would benefit the maximum from this spell, he said.

The official monsoon season in the country starts on June 1 and ends on September 30.

As of June 30, monsoon has reached almost the entire country, except a few parts of north India. It is yet to reach Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

Of the 36 meteorological subdivisions, 28 have recorded "deficient" rainfall, while two subdivisions recorded precipitation that was classified under the "large deficient" category.

Only five subdivisions Konkan and Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, north interior Karnataka, east Rajasthan and Gujarat have recorded normal rainfall.

The IMD has four divisions east and the northeast, south peninsula, central India and northwest India.

The east and northeast India division comprises the northeastern states and eastern states of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, and all have registered deficient rainfall.

Of the 10 subdivisions of central India, which covers states like Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha, eight received deficient rainfall.

Of 10 divisions in the south peninsula division, covering the five states of south India and Union territories of Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, eight received deficient rainfall.

Monsoon reached Kerala on June 8, a week after its normal onset date. Its progress was halted for more than a week due to Cyclone Vayu in the Arabian Sea.