The Indian Meteorological Department has said that the month of June ended with the monsoon registering a 11% deficit because of its late onset, reported the Times of India. However, most part of the country have received normal to excess rainfall despite the delay.
"The deficit in June was mainly due to the eight-day delay in monsoon's onset. It progressed well after that but did not perform as expected in central India. But the shortfall should be made up in July," said D Sivananda Pai, IMD's lead monsoon forecaster. The Met department expects rains to pick up in July, which is also the most important season for sowing kharif crops. The monsoon arrived in India on June 8.
Several parts of the country have not yet received proper monsoon showers. "In the next few days, monsoon activity is likely to be concentrated in northwest India and adjoining parts of central India. We expect monsoon to hit Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and more parts of UP and Rajasthan in the next two-three days," Yadav said.
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