NEW DELHI: Monsoon rainfall is likely to gain momentum and deliver higher than normal rainfall in the southern states, Maharashtra, Odisha and south-eastern Madhya Pradesh in the next seven days, the weather office said in its weekly outlook. 

 

 

In the following week, from June 27, rainfall will continue in these states as well as all the north-eastern states, it said, signalling a much-needed revival of the vital weather system, which made a poor start this year because its progress has been hindered by the dreaded El Nino phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean. 

 

The two-week forecast comes as a relief to rural India as poor rainfall has delayed sowing of crops and prompted authorities to be prepared with drought-relief plans. With half of India’s farmland dependent entirely on rainfall for water, the progress of monsoon has a major impact on the life of rural India, where twothirds of the Indians live. 

 

 

The monsoon has a direct impact on rural demand for consumer goods, gold, appliances, twowheelers, cars and tractors. This year’s sluggish start of the rainy season had also triggered concerns about food inflation as price of farm commodities rise when rainfall is weak. 

 

This year, rainfall across the country since the start of the monsoon season on June 1 has been 43% below average, with only 15% of the country’s area getting normal or higher rainfall, according to data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD). 

 

Earlier on Thursday, the IMD said that the monsoon, which had been static for a week, had advanced to the remaining parts of coastal Karnataka, some parts of Konkan and Goa, some districts of Maharashtra and more regions in West Bengal. 

 

 

It said conditions were developing for further progress of the monsoon in the days ahead. The favourable conditions include strong monsoon-boosting winds in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, as well as rain-bearing system developing off the eastern coast.