Mandi: A woman at a damaged residential area in the aftermath of a cloudburst, at Thunag in Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh, Sunday, July 13, 2025.
Image: PTI Photo
Overall monsoon rain is progressing well in the second week of July. However, there are concerns around the rise of deficit rainfall in southern and northeastern regions of the country; excess showers in some parts of the north have already caused disruptions.
As of July 14, the all-India cumulative rainfall was at 9 percent above the long-period average (LPA), based on India Metrological Department (IMD) data analysis by Barclays. This is a mild slowdown, with all-India cumulative rainfall being 14.6 percent above LPA as of July 7.
Rain deficit in the southern and northeast regions increased week-on-week, while surplus rains in the north-west and central regions moderated. Within the northwest region, excess rainfall in Delhi NCR, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana continued to cause disruptions and causalities, which may increase transportation costs in key vegetable and fruit producing regions, says Barclays. As of July 11, the area covered under kharif crops was 59.8 million hectares, which is 55 percent of the normal area sown.
Reservoir water storage levels improved over the week. As of July 10, storage in key reservoirs was at 52 percent of total capacity, more than double the 22 percent in the same comparable period last year, and 183 percent of normal storage. Normal storage is defined as an average of the previous 10 years.
(Rain Watch is a weekly series that monitors India's monsoon, tracking detailed insights on rainfall trends, regional distribution variations, water reservoir levels and sowing progress of essential kharif crops. This is the third year of Forbes India tracking the intersection of climate patterns and agri-economics.)