The month of June is likely to end with 15 to 16 percent surplus rainfall and the northwest region in particular will get heavy showers in the next 48 hours, compensating the 7 percent deficit so far, private weather forecaster Skymet as well as the IMD said on Wednesday.

 

 

 Skymet official Mahesh Palawat said the overall rainfall in the country has been 23 percent "above average" till June 23 as he ruled out fears of possibility of a drought-like situation or any effect on crops.

 

 "The rain is above average all over the country and it only the northwest region consisting of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan that has registered a 7 percent deficit in rainfall.

 

 "However, heavy rain is expected in this region in the next 48 hours, which will make up for the deficient rain," Palawat told IANS.

 

 Moreover, majority of the states in the northwest region have irrigation facilities and are not dependent solely on rain, he said. 

 

 "It is the central region of India that depends on rainfall for crop irrigation and this area has received the most rainfall so far – 51 percent above the average," he said.

 

 Similarly, the western, central, eastern, northeastern and southern India have also received surplus rainfall till June 23.

 

 "The first week of July will see scanty rain all over the country, but the monsoon will pick up after that and overall, July will get average rainfall," Palawat said further.

 

 The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) too said that the monsoon is progressing normally and the rainfall till has been above average.

 

 "There will be rainfall in the northwest region in the next two days," said an IMD official.