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Northern India receives good rains after dry spell

Several regions of northern India received heavy showers late on Monday, breaking a dry spell and the rainfall activity was expected to continue in the coming days, weather officials said on Tuesday.

H R Hatwar, director, India Meteorological Department, told Reuters New Delhi and the adjoining states of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh recorded good rains.

"Clouds are there in these regions and the monsoon trough is close to Delhi. We expect good rainfall in the northern region," Hatwar said.

Officials said several parts of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir also received good rains.

A senior farm ministry official said on Monday the annual monsoon rains were likely to intensify after Wednesday in several areas that have been gripped by the worst drought in 15 years.

The drought caused large-scale damage to crops in key grain-bowl states, but several regions have received good rains in the past four days and weather officials have said more rains are expected in the next two days.

The annual southwest monsoon is crucial for the farm sector, the key driver of the economy, which employs close to 70 per cent of India's billion plus population.

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