July begins with healthy rainfall, sowing status better than last year: Report

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Signalling a normal monsoon ahead, The cumulative rainfall reached 1 per cent above the long-term average (as on July 6) while weekly rainfall (as on July 3) was 32 per cent above the long-term average in the country, a report showed on Monday.

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Spatial divergence has reduced with most of the country receiving healthy rains during the last week.

North and West India (3 per cent), Central India (-6 per cent), East and North East India (0 per cent ), and the southern peninsula (13 per cent) have now all had normal rains so far, according to the report by Emkay Global Financial Services.

"With June having ended in deficit, it is imperative that July sees healthy rainfall and the month has begun on a promising note," said Madhavi Arora, Lead Economist, Emkay Global Financial Services.

While sowing was delayed, it has now picked up and is better than last year.

"Total area under sowing (24.1 million hectare), as on June 28, is sharply higher (33 per cent YoY) than last year. This is mainly due to accelerated sowing of pulses and oilseeds," the report noted.

Rice sowing area is the same as last year thus far whereas sugarcane is better. Among non-food crops, cotton sowing is much higher.

Overall area under sowing is at 22 per cent of normal area sown, compared with 18.6 per cent at the same point in 2023.

"July is extremely important in this regard with nearly 80 per cent of sowing activity completed by the end of the month," said Arora.

We also published this earlier

Heavy rain brings Mumbai to halt, road & rail traffic hit, schools shut

Overnight heavy rain pounded large parts of Mumbai and Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) hitting suburban and long-distance trains, roads and highways while stranding lakhs of commuters trooping out to work on the first working day of the week and all schools were shut for the morning session, officials said here on Monday.

In just six hours, many areas in the city recorded more than a staggering 200 mm - 300 mm rainfall from 1 am till 7 am, according to the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the downpour continued with a forecast of heavy rain for the next two days.

As Mumbai slept, the skies opened up for the first major downpour of the current monsoon, and most citizens woke up to waterlogged roads, railway tracks, flooded low-lying areas, water in homes, shops or offices, blocked subways and many places rendered inaccessible to commute.

The earliest of the commuters before dawn encountered either delays or cancellations of suburban local trains -- the city's lifeline which transports over 8.50 million people daily -- with huge crowds waiting at almost all the railway stations dotting the Central Railway and Western Railway networks sprawling Mumbai plus Thane, Palghar and Raigad (MMR).

Besides, important trains that ferry thousands of commuters on the Mumbai-Gujarat, Mumbai-Pune, Mumbai-Kolhapur sectors, were also hit by cancellations or massive delays or getting stranded at stations en route.

In Mumbai, several subways, including Santacruz, Andheri, Jogeshwari, Malad, Kandival and Dahisar were flooded with 3-5 feet of water, and east-west traffic was halted.

Railway tracks were flooded near Kalyan, Dombivali, Ulhasnagar, Thane, Bhandup, Kurla, Sion and Wadala hitting suburban trains.

Several housing complexes were waterlogged in Dahisar, Borivali, Kandivali, Malad, Jogeshwari, Andheri, Santacruz, Sion, Wadala, Kurla, Ghatkopar, Bhandup, and other places.

Scores of big and small vehicles were either stuck or submerged partly-fully in different areas of the city, tree falls and other minor incidents, though there are no reports of any casualties so far.

Also read: Heavy rains lash Mumbai, several areas inundated; trains disrupted, holiday for schools, colleges declared

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