India's monsoon rains started retreating from the northwest of the country on Monday, nearly a week later than normal, the state-run India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a statement. India's annual monsoon provides

The southwest monsoon generally kicks off in June and starts to retreat by September 17. However, the rains continued this year, which helped to replenish reservoirs but damaged the harvesting of some crops.

The IMD predicts that widespread rainfall will continue over parts of Gujarat and western India throughout the week, which could delay the withdrawal in those areas

The normal date for monsoon to begin withdrawal from extreme northwest India regions is 17 September, but due to successive weather systems developed in recent days, the monsoon has been active throughout September.

As per the IMD weather bulletin, Chhattisgarh and Vidarbha are likely to have average rainfall for this whole week along with isolated heavy showers from 23 Sept to 26 Sept.

India had received a cumulative rainfall surplus of 5 per cent, with nearly all regions reporting above-average precipitation. But rainfall caused by the southwest monsoon has fallen short of the long period average in eastern and northeastern states,

The India Meteorological Department has announced that the monsoon is beginning to withdraw from parts of West Rajasthan and Kutch, marking a delayed retreat. This year's monsoon season is expected to conclude with above-normal rainfall,