The monsoon season ended Sunday with a "below normal" showing this year as the country recorded a nine per cent deficit in rainfall, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Alongside Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal northeastern states recorded the maximum deficiency, the weather agency said.

This is a second year in a row when monsoon ended with below normal rainfall. This year saw Kerala receiving an unprecedented rainfall during the monsoon triggering one of the worst floodings in a century in which hundreds perished.