India now faced a higher likelihood of a drought in some parts, as monsoon rain would be less than predicted in April, private weather forecaster Skymet said on Friday.
A favourable monsoon and government support to the rural economy are among the reasons that agrochemical companies, including makers of pesticides and fertilisers, have done well.
Meanwhile, water will be released from Chembarambakkam lake, one of the key drinking water sources to Chennai, since it was nearing capacity, the government said.
A prolonged break in monsoon rains in most parts of the country is threatening to hit the yield of kharif crops. It could even delay the upcoming rabi sowing. Major agricultural states, such as Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, and Gujarat, have witnessed a deficit of 30-80 per cent in southwest monsoon rainfall in August compared to the long-period average for the month. Meteorologists see no big revival in monsoon rains from hereon, though they forecast "some activity" over the Bay of Bengal on September 5-6.
Incessant downpour battered several states, including Kerala, Maharashtra and Karnataka, on Friday, with landslips and floods throwing normal life out of gear.
An unmanned aerial vehicle was pressed into service on Friday to trace 17 missing engineering students from Hyderabad but without any success and rescuers will now deploy for the first time a multibeam echsounder in Beas river whose level will be also lowered to minimum.
The depression over southwest and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal moved west-northwestwards with a speed of 11 kmph and lay centred at 1130 hrs of Monday over the same region, about 520 km east-southeast of Puducherry and 560 km southeast of Chennai, the Indian Meterological Department said.
With mercury level soaring, Kerala is likely to face drought-like situation amid fears of drinking water scarcity and power crisis in the poll-bound state as water bodies are fast drying up.
The most worrisome aspect is that most water woes are the result of mismanagement
Monsoon revival over weekend likely, but second-half rainfall may be muted. If the rains become scarce after mid-August, the standing kharif crops might be impacted
A senior executive of NIA confirmed the development and said that the insurance company is assessing damage to the airport's assets
However, the areas under paddy - the biggest cereal grown during the kharif season - continue to be less than last year, mainly due to delayed onset of rains and also on account of shift towards the more lucrative maize.
Educational institutions remained closed even as the weather office forecast heavy downpour in the next three days in the state, Puducherry and coastal Andhra Pradesh.
Prices are likely to rise further as demand grows in coming months due to festivals
For the ill-fated group of students of a city-based engineering college merrily taking photos on the banks of Beas river in Himachal Pradesh, tragedy struck in a matter of couple of minutes as they were washed away in the swirling waters which suddenly rose several feet.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Friday held Jharkhand and DVC responsible for the current "man made" flood in the southern part of the state and contended that it was caused due to the unplanned and enhanced discharge of water from dams and barrages in the neighbouring state without information.
"The country has taken an important decision with the inspiration of Sardar Patel, to walk a new path to resolve a decades-old problem," Modi said.
The overall deficiency in the cumulative monsoon rainfall since the beginning of the season has shrunk from about 46 per cent in the end of June to 24 per cent by July 16. The key agricultural belt of north-western India is still facing about 44 per cent rainfall deficiency, though there have been some welcome showers throughout the region in the past couple of weeks. The north-eastern region is also facing about 40 per cent rain deficieny.
A likely western disturbance over north India during the weekend might cause heavy to very heavy showers in a few places, including New Delhi.
The government must expand the farm insurance cover and advice banks and financial institutions to settle crop insurance claims in the drought-hit areas without delay.
The government on Wednesday said any attempt by China to set up a hydropower station on the Brahmaputra river will act as an encroachment on the entitled rights of lower riparian states like India and Bangladesh and adversely affect the availability of water in its basin during the lean season.
Till July 26, kharif crops have been sown in around 68.87 million hectares, which is 6.43 per cent lower than the area covered during the same period last year.
106 people died on a single day on Thursday.
The well-irrigated states of Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka, western Uttar Pradesh and coastal states such as Odisha are, for the first time, feeling the effects of a poor monsoon.
Protests over the Cauvery water dispute gained momentum on Friday with Kannada outfits planning several high-voltage rallies in Bengaluru even as the state government briefed a central team on the water storage levels in reservoirs.
Heavy rain alert continued in Himachal Pradesh as the monsoon intensified in the various districts of the state.
The mighty Brahmaputra, one of the longest rivers in the world passes through China, India and Bangladesh and has several tributaries and sub-tributaries.
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announces Rs 4 lakh compensation for the kin of dead.
The government will announce minimum support prices for kharif.
The state government has instructed officials in coastal districts and various departments to be alert to tackle any emergency situation
A minister said the country had 7% less rain than normal.
Images from across Europe and parts of Asia show hot and bothered people dunking their feet in buckets of ice and wading into the sea as sweltering temperatures put some areas on red alert.
The latest forecast, given by Earth Sciences Minister Jitendra Singh, was a downward revision from a previous forecast of 93 per cent given at the outset of the monsoon in June, but was nowhere near as bad some farmers had feared.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who undertook an aerial survey of rain ravaged areas of Idukki and Wayanad, said Kerala was in the midst of an unprecedented flood havoc and the calamity has caused "immeasurable misery and devastation."
Over a million people have been evacuated and hundreds of flights were cancelled as typhoon Chan-Hom made landfall on Saturday in eastern China, bringing severe winds and heavy rainfall to Zhejiang and neighbouring provinces.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in which senior ministers including Revenue Minister Ashoka, Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar and Higher Education Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, medical experts and senior officials participated.
Reports said that in Telangana and Karnataka, excessive rains the past 10 days has threatened the standing green gram and maize crops and could negatively impact yields if the skies don't open up. But in the north-west and central parts of India, the resurgence of monsoon could not have come at a better time as oilseeds and pulses crops would otherwise had weathered if the rains didn't revive in August.
The production in Maharashtra is pegged higher at 11-11.5 million tonnes against 10.71 million tonnes
Rescue work has intensified in Texas with officials launching search operations as desperate residents remain stranded without food and water.
The storage of water in the six major reservoirs in the state was just 6.2 per cent of capacity as of April 27, 2017, reports T E Narasimhan and Gireesh Babu.
