With 7 per cent excess rainfall, India likely to have 'above normal' monsoon this year

With 7 per cent more rainfall than usual this year, India is likely to have an 'above normal' monsoon season which will be officially ending on September 30, according to data.

The four-month monsoon season officially begins on June 1 and ends on September 30. It starts withdrawing from west Rajasthan beginning September 1, but this year it has shown no such signs, officials said.

Of the 36 meteorological subdivisions, 11 have recorded "excess" rainfall this season, data showed.

"Until Friday, the rainfall was seven per cent more than normal and it is unlikely to go down by two per cent in the next two days as we are expecting good rainfall in some parts of the country," said Mritunjay Mohapatra, Director General of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Rainfall between 96 per cent and 104 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA) is considered as 'normal', while that between 104 and 110 per cent of the LPA is classified as 'above normal'. LPA is the average of rainfall between 1951 and 2000, which is 89 cm.

The central India division, comprising Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, has recorded 26 per cent more rainfall. The south peninsula division, comprising Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar islands, the Lakshdweep, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, has recorded 17 per cent excess rainfall.

The east and northeast, and northwest divisions have recorded deficiency of 16 and 6 per cent, respectively.

The Northeastern states, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand make up the east and northeast India division. The northwest India division comprises Delhi, Haryana, Jammu Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.