NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's monsoon rains for the week ended July 1 were 29 percent below normal, improving from a 68 percent shortfall in the previous seven days, the weather office said on Thursday.

The June-September annual rains are the main source of irrigation for Indian farms and are crucial for Asia's third-largest economy.

LUCKNOW: Late arrival and now weak monsoon conditions have hit farmers hard. If the same trend continued for a weak, it is feared that the Kharif crop yield would drop by 20-30% this season. Adding to the woes of farmers is the poor power supply in the rural belt and the recent hike in diesel prices.

MUMBAI: The first few days of monsoon have resulted in the regular yellowish-brown, brackish water from household taps across the city. The BMC's contamination report for the last 15 days of June shows 10% of the total samples tested were found to be unfit for drinking, and another 3% contained the harmful E. coli bacteria.

Vinson Kurian

Thiruvananthapuram, July 2 The Australian Bureau of Meteorology

Mumbai: While the monsoon has arrived, Nashik district has been left completely dry. With only a few drizzles last week, a shadow of a drought-like situation looms over the city. The district administration has already started gearing up for the water shortage.

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Agriculture Minister S A Ravindranath said the Cabinet, which will meet on July 6, will discuss whether to take up cloud seeding at those places which have received scanty rainfall.

Raju Gavali, Belgaum, DH News Service:

The fear of drought looms large over Belgaum district, where all the major rivers have dried up, and water in reservoirs is approaching dead storage, sooner than expected.

Shyam Sundar Vattam, Mysore, DH News Service:

A grim situation lies ahead in terms of crops and power, if the rains continue to play truant.