Weak monsoon threatens farms, power supply

By Himangshu Watts

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The government is scrambling to divert power supplies to the countryside to irrigate rice and oilseed crops and limit damage after the worst start to the vital monsoon season in eight decades has raised fears of a drought.

The shift threatens to worsen the summer power deficit that has plagued India for decades, particularly with the country's hydropower plants running below 40 percent of capacity as scanty rains have depleted reservoirs.

Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde is worried about the shortfall in monsoon rains as hydropower accounts for one quarter of India's total power generation of 149,400 megawatts.

He said the government had ensured a higher supply of electricity to Punjab and Haryana, the key grain producing regions, to help irrigation.

"They have the water but they don't have the power," Shinde said, adding India already faced a power shortage of 15,000-20,000 megawatts.

India's farm minister, Sharad Pawar, said on Monday that monsoon rains were expected to improve this week, while the latest weather office bulletin forecasts heavy rains in coastal areas of southern India and parts of central India.

Last week the U.S. government said that an El Nino weather pattern is developing, putting countries from Asia to North America on alert for meteorological havoc to crops and infrastructure.

The phenomenon is caused by a warming of seas in the Pacific.