"El Niño dampened rainfall in August, and it will also have a negative impact on September rainfall," said a senior official at the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The weather department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. India is heading for its driest August in more than a century, weather department officials said earlier this month. The current monsoon has been uneven, with June rains 9% below average but July rains rebounding to 13% above average. The last four Septembers have seen above-average rains due to delayed withdrawal of the monsoon, he said.

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Persons: Sivaram, El, El Niño, Rajendra Jadhav, Tony Munroe, Raju Gopalakrishnan, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, El, Reuters, India Meteorological Department, IMD, Reuters Graphics, Thomson Locations: Vembanad, Kochi, India, El, New Delhi, Mumbai