Met forecasts below normal monsoon

Farmers, who are taking extreme steps after their wheat crops have been totally damaged due to untimely rains, would be left with no option as weak monsoon would hit the sowing of kharif crops.

Blaming the El Nino factor for the low forecast for a second consecutive year, IMD said parts of the northwest and central India are likely to be affected the most with less rainfall. 

Addressing a press conference on monsoon forecast, Union Minister for Earth Science Harsh Vardhan said that the monsoon would be 93 per cent of the long period average which is below normal. The minister, , however, refused to comment on whether the country is likely to face any “drought-like” condition.

According to the IMD parameters, below 90 per cent is defined as deficient, 90-96 per cent is considered as below normal, 96-104 per cent as normal and above which is excess.

“There is a 35 per cent probability for the monsoon to remain below normal while the probability to have a deficient rainfall is 33 per cent and 28 per cent to be normal. There is only one per cent possibility for the rainfall to be excess. The Cabinet Secretariat and the Prime Minister’s Office have been informed about the forecast so that they can gear up for future possibilities,” Vardhan said.