NEW DELHI: In what could spell trouble for the NDA Government in checking the price rise and soaring inflation in the coming days, the monsoon continues to remain 42 per cent deficient, with over 90 per cent of the country having so far received scanty or deficit rainfall.
The government’s worries on this front have increased manifold since one-third of July has passed but major grain producing states in Central and Northern India are yet to get sufficient rains.
The weather department is regularly briefing officials at the Cabinet Secretariat about the progress of the monsoon while the government has assured that a contingency plan is already in place to handle the impact of the deficient rains.
Concerned over the deficient rainfall so far, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had chaired a high-level meeting on June 26 to review the progress of the monsoon.
According to the Indian Metrological Department (IMD), parts of Eastern India, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka have received good rainfall but states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi have received scanty rainfall.
“The monsoon is expected to improve and revive in Central and North-West India after July 11 and we hope that these areas will get good rainfall in the coming days. The monsoon has an active and weak cycle and its progress over North India has been weak so far,” said IMD Director B P Yadav.
Concerns over the weak monsoon was also echoed in Parliament, with members cutting across the political lines urging the government to take appropriate measures so that people, especially the farmers, are not put to suffer.
Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha,Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Minister, Jitendra Singh said the deficient rainfall during June was caused by the delayed arrival of monsoon over Kerala and its subsequent slow progress.
“The formation of cyclone “Nanauk” over Arabian Sea during the second week of June has disturbed the monsoon advancement and hence delayed the arrival of monsoon to Central and North India, thus causing deficient monsoon rains in June,” Singh said, adding, monsoon is likely to improve this month.