In the first of a two-part series, Business Standard examines the impact of the upcoming summer on agriculture and drinking water supply.
July and August are expected to receive 107 per cent and 104 per cent of rainfall
Simultaneous activation of both Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal low-pressure systems has led to the state receiving an excess 65 per cent rainfall.
For the second successive year, Monsoon is likely to be below normal with parts of north-west and central India to be the most affected.
The two western states, already battling a raging pandemic, which has put their health infrastructure under severe strain, opened new fronts to tackle the fallout of the storm which is expected to make a landfall close to Mumbai on Wednesday. They are likely to be impacted most by the cyclone.
Of that figure, a whopping 4,246 people died in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana alone.
A portion of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Sunday, triggering an avalanche and a deluge in the Alaknanda river system that washed away hydroelectric stations, leaving at least seven people dead and 125 missing who are feared dead.
Heavy rains lashed south and east central Gujarat causing flood like situation in localities alongside rivers flowing through Valsad, Navsari and Surat districts and killing at least five persons at two places, officials said on Tuesday.
13 out of the world's 20 most polluted cities are in India. Most shockingly, the latest Central Pollution Control Board statistics reveal that the pollution levels in Gwalior, Raipur and even little known Kashipur are higher than that of Delhi which means we have some of the most polluted zones in the world.
Air quality in the national capital deteriorated alarmingly a day after Diwali as pollution levels spiked more than five times higher than normal leaving many at the risk of respiratory problems.
Officials said good rain in August - though it might not improve acreages much for most crops except urad, moong, and paddy - would help in improving yields in the crops already planted.
The storm is India's strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall in 20 years.
The monsoon this year in India was likely to be 'below normal' at 95% of LPA: Skymet
The deep depression in the Arabian Sea has intensified into cyclonic storm "Ashobaa" and is expected to further develop into a "super cyclonic storm" in next 24-36 hours, the weather office said on Monday.
Cyclone Nisarga slammed Maharashtra coast with wind speeds of up to 120 kmph, making landfall at 12.30 pm at Alibaug near Mumbai. The process was completed by 2.30 pm, a senior India Meteorological Department official said. Alibaug witnessed wind speeds of up to 120 kilometres per hour. It weakened into a 'deep depression' late on Wednesday evening, the IMD said.
While man and a woman were reported killed when trees came crashing down on them in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, a 13-year-old girl died in a similar incident in adjoining Howrah. No casualties have been reported from Odisha yet.
People flock to electronics shops to buy air conditioners.
It is the highest rainfall of the season so far in 24 hours.
While the IMD had forecast a 'normal' monsoon for the entire season, Skymet stated that rain this year would be 'below normal', report Sanjeeb Mukherjee and Sahil Makkar.
As Cyclone Hudhud is closing in on the Andhra Pradesh coastline and is expected to make a landfall near Visakhapatnam by Sunday afternoon, about 1.11 lakh people in five coastal districts have been shifted to safer places.
In an unprecedented measure, the Maharashtra government requested defence officials to arrange airlift of the stranded passengers of the 17412 Mahalaxmi Express.
Monsoon is expected to cover central and eastern India after Tuesday.
Whenever they are announced, the bypolls to 20 assembly seats in Tamil Nadu will be a mini referendum on the state government's performance. It will also be a do-or-die battle for the ruling AIADMK, opposition DMK, as well as the rebel AMMK, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The 30-share Sensex ended up 214 points at 27,890 and the 50-share Nifty closed up 52 points at 8,430.
The India Meteorological Department said rainfall would be accompanied by gale wind speed reaching 140 to 150 kmph and gusting to 165 kmph along and off Odisha and north Andhra Pradesh coasts.
'All El Ninos are not associated with the deficient monsoon.'
Gains were led by Tata Motors amid robust sales in June along with select financials.
The broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.4% each
The prices of oilseed, coarse cereals & vegetables could also be affected.
Twenty people were killed on Saturday in rain-related incidents in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan even as rivers continued to be in spate in Bihar.
Cyclone Vayu was to hit the Gujarat coast on Thursday, but it changed course on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday.
Normal monsoon makes FMCG, automobile and consumer durable companies optimistic about growth prospects
The IMD attributed the projection to a weakening of El Nio and the Indian Ocean Dipole turning positive.
Four persons have died in Bihar since Monday in rain-related incidents due to the 'peripheral effect' of Cyclone Phailin, taking the death toll in the state to 14.
Rains will continue to batter Tamil Nadu for the next seven days and the next 48 hours are "very crucial", the IMD has said.
Financials ended mixed despite the status-quo on key rates by the RBI. SBI, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank ended up 0.4-2.5% each.
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India's hydroelectric power generation grew 17.5 per cent to 7.5 billion units in January this year from 6.4 billion units in the same month of 2012.
Stifling heat has killed more than 1,242 people in India in less than one week.
After a brief lull, intermittent rains lashed Chennai and its suburbs on Sunday, while the weatherman predicted more showers in Tamil Nadu over the next 48 hours.
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