NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW: Concerned about delay in monsoon, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked officials to monitor the situation closely on a day-to-day basis. Monsoon rains should have reached Mumbai by June 10, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and parts of Uttar Pradesh by June 15. The seasonal rains have stopped in tracks near Mumbai since June 7.
Delay in monsoons has triggered apprehension that output of major crops — paddy, maize, cotton, groundnut, sugarcane and pulses would be severely affected. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) announced yesterday that monsoon this year was going to be “below normal.” It is expected to be 93 percent as against the 96 percent predicted earlier.
“The southwest monsoon rainfall is likely to be below normal between June to September,” Minister of State for Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan said yesterday at a press conference. There could be an error of “four percent” in predictions, he said.
The country will receive 93 percent of the average rainfall in July, while in August the rainfall will be 101 percent of the average, Chavan said. Northwest India will receive 81 percent of the average rainfall, the northeast will receive 92 percent, central India will receive 99 percent and the southern peninsula will receive 93 percent of the average rainfall, he said.
Severe heat wave conditions yesterday prevailed in parts of Uttar Pradesh, where the arrival of the monsoon has been delayed. The monsoon currents are moving slowly toward Uttar Pradesh. Taking this into account, the state Met office had earlier announced that the monsoon would arrive by June 26, but now they say it will be delayed till June 30.
Though the monsoon has been delayed in the past, state Met officials said a further delay in the arrival of the monsoon could make the situation alarming in parts of the state, where the temperature is hovering between 42-46 degrees Celsius. Sultanpur district, about 135 km from Lucknow has been the worst hit by the severe heat conditions. “As of now, the highest temperature (46.2 degrees Celsius) has been recorded in Sultanpur district,” said Gupta. On Tuesday, Lucknow recorded a temperature of 44.4 degrees Celsius, Agra recorded 45 degrees, Jhansi 44.7, Allahabad 44.3, Kanpur 44.1 and Varanasi 44.6.
Food grain production, especially of paddy, will be badly hit this year in Punjab if the monsoon was delayed further and the heat wave continued, agriculture experts here say. Punjab’s agriculture department officials said though the panic button had not been pressed yet, paddy plantation could take a beating if the rains failed, especially given the acute water and power crisis in the state.
Agriculture officials in neighboring Haryana also expressed concern about the paddy harvest this season. Punjab and Haryana together account for over half the country’s annual food grains production. Both states saw a bumper wheat crop production in May with over 175 lakh tons of wheat being procured this season.
Massive power cuts and water shortage in the sweltering summer yesterday compelled Delhiites to come out on the roads and protest across the national capital. Restless people blocked traffic at many places and shouted slogans against the Delhi government for failing to provide water and power.
— With input from agencies
