Click to play videoNew Delhi: When cyclone Aila hit West Bengal, few knew it would delay the onset of monsoons in central India. Monsoons in central parts of India have been delayed by at least a week.
Director-General of the Indian Metereological Department, Dr Ajit Tyagi says, "This is one of the factors which has disturbed the further advance of the monsoon."
The season was supposed to begin on June 10 in Maharashtra and on June 15 in Gujarat. Rains have also been delayed in Chhattisgarh, Telengana, Parts of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
The southwest monsoon will not advance for the next three days and the the delay is already having an impact in the shape of shortage of water, for drinking as well as for agriculture. The Met Department has already forcast that rainfall will be less than normal this year. So does India have reasons to fear?
Dr Tyagi says there is no reason to worry. "There is no reason for any alarm at this stage," says he.
However, parts of Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Gujarat are already facing a drought like situation and this is bad news for agriculture. After a disappointing rate of growth of less than 2 per cent last year, a further slow down would hurt efforts to push agriculture onto the high growth curve. The immediate impact will be on small farmers.
Some farmers have already tilled their lands and sown their seeds and if there is no rainfall on time, their seeds dry up and when the rains do come, the farmer may not be left with any more seeds to cultivate his land with.
Food production could also be affected and after three years of good monsoons, a dry spell could spell disaster for a recession-hit Indian economy.
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