MC Daily Monsoon Tracker: Rainfall deficit narrows further to 3 percent

Rainfall deficit narrows further

A further reduction in rainfall deficit to 3 percent, helped restore reservoir levels in the past week. India’s reservoir level deficit narrowed to 10 percent compared with 17 percent last week.

Andhra Pradesh and Bihar continue to face over 70 percent deficit in capacity.

Chandigarh is the only region in the country with over 50 percent rainfall deficit, according to data released by the Indian Meteorological Department, compared with six in the previous week.

The deficit has narrowed from 17 percent to 3.2 percent within a week.

Twenty-three states and union territories had normal or above normal rainfall.

On Tuesday, the weather forecaster noted that the monsoon arrived six days early across the country.

In monsoon parlance, a normal is calculated using a long-period average of 30 years for a specific region.

Data released last week showed Kharif sowing was up 33 percent as of June 28 from the previous year. Pulses sowing was up 181 percent, whereas oilseeds witnessed an over 150 percent rise in acreage. Rice acreage was largely unchanged at 2.2 million hectares.

The power situation in the country improved further on July 3, as the country witnessed a fifth consecutive day of less than 1 million units of power shortage.

The power shortage was primarily due to Uttarakhand and Bihar.

The reservoir situation improved over the week. Reservoir levels were down 10 percent from normal as of July 4, compared with 16 percent in the previous week.

The government is hoping for a revival of its agricultural sector, which recorded 1.4 percent growth in FY24 compared to 4.7 percent in the previous year, also lower than the 3.7 percent long-term average.