Headlines
Monsoon to be deficient; forecast downgraded to 88 percent
New Delhi, June 2
The country is expected to
receive only 88 percent of the long-term average rainfall this year,
Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Tuesday terming
this year's monsoons as "below normal" to "deficient".
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, who is "monitoring the situation closely", has
directed all concerned ministries to make necessary preparations and
take action so that the common man is not affected, he added.
"The
latest forecast is bothering me as the rainfall this monsoon is likely
to be below normal to deficient at 88 percent -- plus or minus four
percent -- of the normal (average) rainfall, which is down from 93
percent in April," Harsh Vardhan said.
The northwest region,
which includes Delhi, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, will
receive 85 percent of the normal (average) rainfall, with an error
margin of 8 percent points, the minister added.
He said the
probability of monsoon remaining below average -- rainfall between 96
and 104 percent of the long-term average (the average annual rainfall
for the period 1951-2000) -- had risen from 68 percent in April to 93
percent now.
"Let's pray that the forecast does not come true," he said.
In April, the India Meteorological Department had forecast 93 percent of the average rainfall for the country.
The
minister blamed El Nino that happens in the equatorial Pacific Ocean as
well as climate change due to global warming, as two of the many other
reasons behind the forecast.
"EL Nino is definitely one of the reasons and so is climate change," he said.
"The prime minister is monitoring the situation closely," Harsh Vardhan added.