The southwest monsoon covered the entire country today, almost 36 days after it entered the mainland through the Kerala coast.

 

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the usual date for the monsoon to cover the entire country is July 8 and, therefore, this year it has been delayed by a day.

 

“The Southwest Monsoon has further advanced into the remaining parts of Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab, thereby covering the entire country today, July 9, 2026,” the Met department said.

 

However, it also warned that there could be a significant reduction in rainfall activity over the central parts of the country, including Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, from today onwards, and over south Peninsular India from July 10.

 
 

The last time the southwest monsoon took longer than in 2026 to cover the entire country after its onset over the Kerala coast was in 2021, when it reached the southern state on June 3 and then took around 40 days to cover the entire country by July 13. Thus, 2026 could be counted among the slowest progressions of the southwest monsoon from onset in the last five years.

 

This year, the monsoon reached the Kerala coast on June 4, after a delay of three days, and then covered the entire country today, July 9, 2026, as per data shared by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

 

The southwest monsoon, after making a sedate entry, has picked up pace since July, narrowing the cumulative deficit from almost 30 per cent as on June 30 to around 15 per cent as on July 8, 2026. The sharp reduction in the deficit has been possible due to the strong revival of the monsoon over western and central India.

 

The pick-up is also expected to aid the planting of kharif crops, which has been lagging behind last year’s level by almost 22 per cent till July 5, 2026.

 

The IMD has predicted ‘below normal’ rains this year, with the monsoon expected to be 90 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA) during the June-to-September period.

 

The government, meanwhile, is working on a multipronged strategy to counter the adverse impact of El Niño and low rainfall.

 

A few days ago, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) chaired a high-level meeting with all major line ministries, including agriculture, power, rural development, economic affairs and consumer affairs, to assess the impact of El Niño on various sectors of the Indian economy.

 

According to an official statement on the high-level review meeting, a detailed assessment of the preparatory activities carried out by the ministries in view of the possible impact of El Niño was undertaken, and the ministries were asked to keep a close watch on the emerging situation and work on micro- or local-level strategies to ensure that agriculture and economic activities are not affected by a below-par monsoon in some areas.

 

The Union agriculture ministry is also regularly monitoring the situation. It has so far identified around 375 districts that could be vulnerable to low rainfall, of which 111 have been categorised as “extremely vulnerable”.