THE INDIA METEORO-LOGICAL DEPARTMENT has predicted that rainfall will be normal in the remaining part of the southwest monsoon season that runs from June to September. Rains have generally been on a decline in India, and the period, 2001-2020, saw the lowest seasonal precipitation in a century, shows chart 1.

       In the 2021 season to date, rains have contrasted between 9.6 per cent excess in June and 6.8 per cent deficit in July (chart 2), resulting in 2 per cent lower than normal till August 4, 2021. A large-scale scarcity of rains has been averted, at least for now, but ...