By Pramod Kumar Jha
New Delhi, Jul 15 (IANS): The north-eastern provinces, including Bihar, which are reeling under heavy rains and floods, may soon get relief from the havoc of monsoon, while northern and central-India may witness increased rainfall.
Mrityunjay Mohapatra, Director General, India Meteorological Department (IMD), said that areas of Bihar and the northeast, which are facing flood like situation due to heavy rains, are expected to get relief in the coming days.
While the stretch between Odisha and Gujarat may witness increased rainfall in the next four-five days, Mohapatra said that more rains are expected in north India as well, especially in east Rajasthan.
In an exclusive chat with IANS, Mohapatra said that Delhi, Chandigarh and Haryana have received normal rainfall so far this monsoon.
The monsoon reached Delhi on June 25, two days before the forecast time, but since then there has been light rain, while the national capital is yet to witness torrential rain.
Asked about the distribution of rainfall across the country, the IMD chief said that till July 13, out of the 36 sub-divisions of meteorology in the country, 30 received above average rainfall.
He said that just six sub-divisions have witnessed rain deficiency. According to the IMD, when it rains 20 per cent of the average or even less than it, it is called a deficient rain. Such areas so far include western Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Kerala.
Mohapatra said that the progress of the monsoon has been better than average so far and there has been good rainfall, which is evident from the rapid pace of kharif sowing.
Kharif crops have been sown in 580.21 lakh hectares till last week, which is 44.13 per cent more than the 402.57 lakh hectares during the same period last year.
On the monsoon forecast for July and August, Mohapatra said: "We had issued a forecast that there will be normal rainfall in July, and we have not changed it so far. There will be 102 per cent rainfall in July while August is expected to see 97 per cent rainfall."
He added that the areas which have seen less rainfall in July so far will improve further.
According to IMD's July 14 report, in the entire monsoon season -- between June 1 and July 14 -- 11 per cent more rainfall on an average was received across India. Till July 14, the country has received 320.1 mm of rainfall, while the average rainfall during this period is 288.9 mm.
However, northwest India received 11 per cent less rainfall from June 1 to July 14 on an average. East and northeast India received 15 per cent more rainfall than the average, while central India received 16 per cent more rainfall than the average and the southern peninsular region received 14 per cent more rainfall than average.