The Hindu : National : Good tidings on monsoon front

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Tuesday, Jun 23, 2009
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Good tidings on monsoon front

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: There is some good news on the monsoon front. There are strong indications that the system could get a major boost on Thursday.

Director-General of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) Ajit Tyagi said on Monday that the fresh spurt could remain sustained till the middle of next month.

“There were strong signals that the monsoon system may get strengthened from June 25 and that the new surge would continue till about the middle of June in a sustained manner.”

He said that fresh showers would help make up for the deficiencies. There was no reason to get alarmed as the government had taken note of the 10-day delay in the progress of the monsoon in its plans, he added.

A senior IMD official pointed out that the country had witnessed a similar delay in the onset of monsoon in 1926. But at the end of the season, excess rainfall was recorded.

According to the IMD’s last weekly update on the monsoon, the total rainfall till the week ending June 17 was deficient, with a departure of minus 45 per cent over the Long Period Average (LPA). Rainfall was normal or in excess in just eight of the 36 meteorological sub-divisions.

Of the rest, one — Saurashtra, Kutch and Diu sub-division — recorded ‘no rain,’ while 15 others had reported ‘scanty’ showers, defined as a departure of minus 60 to minus 99 per cent from LPA for the respective sub-divisions.

The balance 12 reported ‘deficient’ rain, defined as a departure of minus 20 per cent to minus 59 per cent.

Corrections and Clarifications:

A sentence in the third paragraph of a Delhi report "Good tidings on monsoon front" (June 23, 2009) was "There were strong signals that the monsoon system could get strengthened from June 25 and that the new surge would continue till about the middle of June in a sustained manner." It should have been "about the middle of July".

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