Monsoon yet likely to improve, says IMD

New Delhi, July 26 (IANS) While deficient rains are threatening crops in some states, the Met office Thursday said monsoon is yet likely to improve in some parts of the country in the coming days.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the monsoon has been 22 percent deficient so far with the states like Punjab and Haryana, the "grain-bowl" of the country, receiving poor rainfall.

"The deficiency will fill up in the coming days as monsoon is likely to improve in the eastern, central and Indo-Gangetic plains," IMD director general L.S. Rathore told reporters here.

Rathore, who met Food Minister K.V. Thomas, said the only concern areas were northwest India and interior peninsula.

The government has already announced contingency plans to handle the situation in worst affected states.

The IMD at the end of July will be issuing assessment on monsoon for August-September.

"We have issued the forecast for a normal rainfall but it has been deficit in most parts of the country. There is further scope to improve upon the forecast," said Shailesh Nayak, secretary, ministry of earth sciences.