Monsoon is set to revive over northwest India from July 28; Gulf Depression Raises Flood Risk In East India | Today’s news

Monsoon activity is expected to revive in northwest India from July 28 after remaining subdued over Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh till the night of July 27, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in an update on Sunday, offering relief for areas where paddy fields grow. Meanwhile, a depression over the Bay of Bengal increased the risk of flooding in parts of eastern India.

The IMD has forecast widespread rainfall over Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi and fairly widespread rainfall over Punjab between July 28 and July 31. Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Uttarakhand are expected to experience widespread rainfall till August 1, while rain activity is likely to extend to western Uttar Pradesh and eastern Rajasthan later this week.

The fresh spell is expected to boost rice cultivation in parts of northwest India where monsoon activity remains weak. Better rainfall is likely to replenish soil moisture, raise reservoir levels and speed up paddy transplanting in Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and adjoining areas, farmers and agriculture experts said.

Farmers who delayed sowing due to insufficient rainfall are expected to step up planting once field conditions improve. Renewed monsoon activity could also boost crop establishment and reduce irrigation requirements, alleviating fears of moisture shortages during the critical early stages of the kharif season, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Rajewal) president Balbir Singh Rajewal said.

India’s agricultural economy remains heavily dependent on monsoon rains. As of July 17, farmers had planted kharif crops on 65.8 million hectares, down 4.2 million hectares from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.

It has a separate meteorological office said a depression lay over the northwestern Bay of Bengal and the adjoining Odisha-West Bengal coast on Sunday. It is “highly likely to move northwestward, intensify further into a deep depression during the next 24 hours and cross the coast of North Odisha and West Bengal between Paradip and Sagar Island around noon on 27 July 2026”.

“Under its influence, isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy rainfall likely over Odisha and Chhattisgarh on July 27 and also isolated very heavy rainfall over Gangetic West Bengal on July 27,” the IMD added.

It warned of a low to moderate risk of flash floods in parts of Odisha and Chhattisgarh in the next 24 hours, saying heavy rainfall could trigger surface runoff, flooding in low-lying areas and localized flooding in vulnerable watersheds and districts where the soil is already saturated.

In Chhattisgarh, the alert covers Baloda Bazar, Dhamtari, Gariaband, Korba, Mahasamund, Raigarh, Raipur and Surguja areas. In Odisha, an alert has been issued for 27 districts, including Cuttack, Puri, Khordha, Bhadrak, Baleshwar, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Ganjam, Kalahandi, Kandhamal and Mayurbhanj, among others.

The warning comes at a time when a depression is expected to bring widespread heavy rainfall to eastern India. The IMD urged residents in vulnerable areas to remain alert, avoid waterlogged areas and follow local government advice, warning that localized flooding and flooding is possible in low-lying areas.

Cumulative monsoon rainfall between 1 June and 15 July was 23% below normal, with the East and North-East recording the largest deficit at 36%, followed by the Southern Peninsula (26%), North-West India (19%) and Central India (13%).

In its monthly outlook, the IMD said India is likely to see below normal rainfall in July, at less than 94% of the Long Term Average (LPA). The forecast comes after the country’s driest June in more than a decade – and the fifth driest since records began in 1901 – with southwest monsoon rainfall 39.8% below the LPA. India received 99.5 mm of rainfall during the month, against the normal 165.3 mm.