June ends with 4% surplus rain

Kharif sowing up 19%; however, significantly less than average downpour in some parts

The southwest monsoon season began on a positive note for most parts of the country, with June recording almost four per cent excess rain than the normal.

However, showers over Jharkhand, Bihar, Gangetic West Bengal, eastern Uttar Pradesh and parts of Karnataka were 20-50 per cent less than the average in the first month of the four-month season that will end in September. Which means these regions could stare at a drought-like situation unless the monsoon becomes active over there in the next few weeks.

On a cumulative basis, the southwest monsoon in June was 52 per cent more than normal over