Science Minister counters colleague: ‘Weak monsoon but no drought-like situation’

There is no change in what we are saying. Monsoon is likely to remain weak this year. Some parts will receive less rainfall, he said.

A day after the Agriculture Minister warned of a possible drought-like situation in western India, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Jitendra Singh said there is no drought-like situation despite there being a below-average monsoon.

“There is no drought-like situation. There is no change in what we are saying. Monsoon is likely to remain weak this year. Some parts will receive less rainfall,” Singh told reporters on Wednesday.

Singh disagreed with his Cabinet colleague Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh who had said on Tuesday that a drought-like situation was looming in the country. When asked about this possible drought-like situation, he said “you may ask the Agriculture Minister about it”.

“We had said that monsoon will be 93 per cent. It will be normal in the Northeast and weak in Northwest region of the country, including parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan,” he said.

Meanwhile, Earth Sciences Secretary Shailesh Nayak said the El Nino effect would be at its highest during December, but declined to comment on whether the global phenomenon would affect the monsoon in the sub-continent.

“We are going by what the World Meteorological Organisation is saying, that El Nino’s effect would be the highest during December. There are several factors that lead to a weak monsoon and El Nino is one of them,” he said.

Meanwhile the India Meteorological Department has said conditions remain favourable for further advance of the southwest monsoon into some more parts of Madhya Pradesh, remaining parts of UP, Haryana, Delhi, Punjab and some parts of north Rajasthan in the next 1-2 days.

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