New Delhi, July 6
Fears of poor rain in July — the sowing month for kharif crop — seem to be holding true this monsoon season. The seasonal rain, which have been overactive in Uttarakhand, appears to be giving the plains of the northwest a miss.

Even when the monsoon was making its spectacular progress through the country in June, some independent experts had expressed fear that it might lose steam somewhere around July.

While clouds are there, they seem to be lacking intensity. The Meteorological Department says while Punjab has received normal rainfall, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, west Rajasthan, Orissa, Gujarat, Saurashtra and Kutch, coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema subdivisions have received scanty rainfall.

Forecast for the next week (July 6 to 12) suggests rain or thundershower at many places over Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Odisha during most part of the week. Rain and thundershowers may occur over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Vidarbha and north Andhra Pradesh during first half of the week.

The monsoon activity will remain subdued over the rest of the country.