Rainfall likely to be 93% of normal, says government

Original from:: http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/delayed_monsoon_govt_drawing_up_contingency_plan.php

It's official now. The government's forecast says India will have a below average monsoon overall.

On the whole, the forecast is for seven percent below average rainfall, with a margin of error between plus and minus four percent, which means theoretically between eleven percent to four percent below average rain.

The Met department has downgraded the forecast for the Monsoon from "near normal" to "below normal".

So, the prediction is for 93% of long term average rainfall.

But the big worry is that northwestern India, which is the granary of the country, is forecast to get only 81% of the average rainfall.

But predictions and models aside, the Monsoon is known to catch up and cover shorfalls. There is a strong hope for a revival of the monsoon as there are rain bearing clouds over both the Arabian Sea & the Bay of Bengal.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has stepped in and asked the Cabinet Secretary to convene a meeting of a Committee of Secretaries to monitor the situation on a daily basis.

The rains, which should have covered most parts of the country by now, have stopped their movement ahead. The worry is that sixty per cent of the crops are rain fed and the government is drawing up contingency plans to counter the situation.

The north and central parts of the country are already sizzling under a heat wave and a drought will derail the newly-elected government's food security promises.

Heat wave prevails

The weathermen have warned of severe conditions over most parts of the country. Temperatures are well above 40 degrees.

Uttar Pradesh has been consistently recording temperatures above 40 degrees. So is Bihar, where water scarcity is adding to the heat trauma.

Jharkhand is reeling at 44 degrees. Temperatures are about 5 degrees above normal in Orissa. Chhatisgarh is scorching at 44 and in MP too water woes are adding to the crisis. Vidarbha is above 40 degrees for the past 7 days and so is Rajasthan.

There is no respite in Delhi and the noon temperatures can rise up to 46 degrees.