The country is 14 per cent deficient of its monsoon quota, though rainfall improved last week in the southern and north-west, Indian Meteorological Department said on Friday.
The Met department forecasts improved rainfall along the west coast due to strengthening of the Arabian Sea arm of the monsoon. On the eastern side, a low-pressure zone is forming in the northwest part of the Bay of Bengal, which may further supplement if—and that’s a big if—it pressure zone intensifies and becomes a depression.
The IMD is counting heavily on the low pressure zone hoping that it will form and move over to Orissa, north Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, north Maharashtra and Vidarbha between July 25-27 causing widespread rainfall in those states.
But the situation will be clearer by Saturday and even if the low-pressure zone brings rain, it is unlikely to be sustained beyond those two days.
However, weather scientists are almost unanimous that August and September will be wetter due to the La Nina— an opposite event of El Nino—which is considered good for monsoon.
So far only South India has received more than its regular monsoon quota. North-west, north-east and central India continues to have the shortfall. The woes are the maximum for Central India as it may experience another bout of poor rainfall in the week beginning
July 31. In that week, western end of the monsoon may shift close to foothills of the Himalayas which may cause decrease in rainfall activity over central India.
UP rivers in spate
Lucknow, DHNS: The flood situation in several districts of Uttar Pradesh remains grim on Friday as major rivers flowed above the danger mark. Thousands of people have shifted to safer places.
According to reports, movement of traffic on the National Highway connecting Uttar Pradesh with Uttarakhand came to halt after flood waters breached a major portion of the road near Bijnore. Almost all the major rivers and some smaller ones have been flowing above danger mark at several places, according to officials.
Flood waters have inundated large tracts of land in several districts threatening many villages, while hundreds of houses in many villages have been washed away, sources said. Authorities have rushed boats to ferry people to safer places. An amount of Rs 6 crore has been released by the government for flood relief works.