The Hindu : National : Dry spell may end soon

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 29, 2004

National

National

Dry spell may end soon

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JUNE 28. The lull in the monsoon is likely to continue for at least another three to four days, according to senior officials in the India Meteorological Department.

The officials told The Hindu that they were keeping track of two tropical cyclones in the West Pacific Ocean and an atmospheric trough just south of the equator. While the cyclones have to cross the land and weaken, the trough has to move northwards for the monsoon currents to re-establish themselves over India.

Around noon today, the cyclones were seen heading towards the Chinese coast, while the trough, which had been almost at one place for the last several days, seemed to be finally moving northwards. The expectation is that over the next two to three days, the cyclones would cross over to the land, while the trough would move substantially northwards paving the way for the revival of the monsoon. There can be some positive news by July 1, the officials said.

Asked about the effects of the current dry spell on agriculture, they said that no adverse affect was expected. On the contrary, it may be beneficial as without the break, there could have been the problem of flooding. It also gave an opportunity to the farmers to undertaking sowing and other such operations.

As per the data available with the IMD, the monsoon had been good since its onset last month. As of June 23, the country as a whole had excess rainfall to the extent of 21 per cent over and above the normal.

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