Rains may pick up in the next few days over north and south India: IMD

The southwest monsoon has made a steady start across India in the first one and a half months. However, north India, particularly in Western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, parts of Rajasthan, and Coastal Karnataka, has still not received adequate rainfall.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) in its latest forecast said rains would pick up in the next few days over north and south India.

The steady monsoon progress has spurred sowing of kharif crops and till last week, acreage was almost 21 per cent more than the same period last

year. Water level in reservoirs has also improved with 123 reservoirs in the country reporting 150 per cent of last year’s storage as of July 16 and 133 per cent of storage of last 10 years.