11% monsoon increase in last week: Govt

Union Minister of State (MoS) Science and Technology (Independent Charge),Earth Sciences (Independent Charge), MoS in Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Department of Personnel and Training,Atomic Energy, Space and Earth Sciences,Jitendra Singh has said there has been significant increase in the monsoon during the last one week beginning from 13th July and the seven days between last Sunday and this Sunday have recorded 11% increase in the monsoon country-wide.

Singh on Sunday visited Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) at "Mausam" Bhavan, Lodi Road,here to have a personal assessment of the monsoon data recorded over the last six weeks.

"After scientific analysis of the data,he observed that there was a note of optimism for the entire nation because while during the month of June and first two weeks of July, the monsoon was deficient by 43%, in the week beginning July 13, 2014, the deficiency was only 32%, thus, recording an improvement of 11% in the monsoon level," read a government statement.

After interacting with scientists and weather experts at the Indian Meteorological Department, Singh shared another conclusion that the forecast for next two weeks is also good, particularly in central India and coastal regions of south India.

There is, therefore, no reason to be unnecessarily alarmist on the issue of monsoon, he added. From 1st August onwards , he said, the meteorological predictions indicate active rainfall in the country.

Singh also held a video conference meeting with the Weather Forecast Divisions in Chennai, Pune, Kolkata and Guwahati, and obtained observations from these centres, which he correlated with the observations at the main Centre in Delhi.

Later, Singh also paid a visit to Satellite Monitoring Division (SMD) and said it is a matter of pride for this Department that it could actually forecast inclement and adverse weather in Uttarakhand from July 16 to July 20, following which the organizers of the ongoing Badrinath Yatra took proper precautions and succeeded in avoiding any unfortunate accidents as was witnessed during last year.

Indeed, in the days to come, Singh said that satellite monitoring will not only be able to pick up the areas rocked by earthquake, but also specific area damaged or affected.

"With all these new innovations, the Indian Meteorological system today is of world-class standard and, therefore, several other countries are also looking forward to share our inputs," read the statement.

During his visit to Indian Meteorological Department, Singh was accompanied by Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Shailesh Nayak and other senior officers and scientists of Indian Meteorological Department.