Monsoon showers have eluded the state.

Two more days left in June, the first month of the season has disappointed Bihar as it has received little over half the expected rainfall (see chart) . Residents are waiting for the elusive showers, and farmers are worried.

The meteorological department had forecast a normal monsoon this year and even though the monsoon has reached Bihar, there is no rain. The monsoon trough line - that extends from west to east and areas falling south of it generally receive good rainfall - was passing through Bihar a few days earlier but that too has shifted southwards. On Wednesday, it was passing through Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.

"I don't know about technical things, but as a homemaker, I was expecting good rainfall and pleasant weather after I read in the newspapers that monsoon has reached Bihar," said Sudha Singh, a resident of Ashiana Nagar. "But we are still waiting for a rainy day."

Vijay Yadav, a farmer in East Champaran district's Rohinia village, has his own problems: "We have transplanted our seedlings but if it does not rain in a week's time, our crops may be damaged."

"It hasn't rained much in Bihar so far because of the absence of any supporting system like upper air circulation, low pressure area which could have brought good rainfall to the state," Sandeep Kumar, a meteorologist at the Patna Met office, told The Telegraph on Wednesday.

Reports from the farms are no good either. According to the agriculture department's figures, paddy sowing has taken place in just about 2 per cent of the total target area set for this year.

"The government has set a target of paddy sowing in 3444800 hectares of land out of which only 77,000 hectare of land has been sowed," a source in the agriculture department said, adding that the paddy sowing report has come from West Champaran, East Champaran, Darbhanga and Samastipur districts only.

The source expressed hope that things could improve drastically because farmers in Bihar generally undertake paddy sowing from June 15 to August 15.

But agriculture department's deputy director Anil Jha said deficient rainfall in June could hit productivity.

"There was good rainfall in May and several farmers prepared their nursery then. The paddy seedling should ideally be transplanted in the fields when the seedlings are 20 to 25 days old. As the rainfall level is not at the desired level for June, transplantation would be delayed which, in turn, would adversely hit productivity," said Jha.

Those farmers who prepare their paddy nursery in June will be in more trouble for the deficient rainfall, Jha added.

But all is not lost yet, claim the weathermen. "The monsoon trough line is likely to shift northwards and also a cyclonic circulation is likely to develop over Bihar. These are likely to bring good rainfall to the state from Friday," said Patna Met office scientist Anand Shankar.