Met Department predicts below normal rain for July

New Delhi June 24 (ANI): The Metrological Department predicted a below normal rainfall in the month of July, expecting 93 % rainfall, as against 96% predicted earlier for this.

Addressing the media, Minister of State for Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan Said the southwest monsoon is expected to be normal this year.

Southwest monsoon, which started a week earlier in May brought happiness among the farmers. But it did not extend beyond Konkan in Maharashtra after the first week of June.

Prithviraj Chavan said the Union Agriculture Secretary T Nanda Kumar will hold discussions with Agriculture Secretaries of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, which are suffering due to failure of monsoon.

The Central government has asked the state government to come up with contingency plans in case the monsoon gets further delayed. (ANI)