India to receive normal summer monsoon rainfall: Deshmukh

New Delhi, Apr 26 (PTI) India is expected to receive normal monsoon for the third consecutive year, Earth Sciences Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh announced here today. The June-September rainfall is expected to be 99 per cent of the long-term average, Deshmukh told a press conference here. The forecast is made by the state-run India Meteorological Department. The long-term average rainfall for the country as a whole is 89 cm for the period 1951-2000. India's chief monsoon forecaster D Sivananda Pai, however, said that there was a possibility of El Nino weather conditions developing in the central equatorial Pacific Ocean, which are usually associated with a weak rainfall. Summer monsoon rains are crucial for India as more than 60 per cent of the country's agriculture is dependent on a good rainfall for proper harvest. The forecast made today will be followed up with an updated and more detailed forecast towards June end. PTI