Senior IMD scientist RK Jenamani said the monsoon could reach Maharashtra in the next two days and conditions are favourable for the advance of monsoon over Goa
Representational image. PTI
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said conditions are favourable for the advancement of the monsoon and that it could reach Maharashtra in the next two days and Mumbai in the next four days.
Senior IMD scientist RK Jenamani said monsoon touched the Kerala coast on 29 May and covered south and central Arabian Sea, Kerala, parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and the entire northeast between 31 May and 7 June.
The scientist said conditions are favourable for the further advance of monsoon over Goa and some more parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in the next two days.
What did the IMD say?
“There is no delay in the progress of monsoon. It is likely to reach Maharashtra in the next two days and cover Mumbai in the subsequent two days,” he told reporters here, dismissing reports that its progress had slowed down.
“We have strong monsoon features — there are strong winds and clouds have started developing — for the next two days,” he added.
The IMD has also warned of isolated extremely heavy rainfall (more than 204.5 mm) in Arunachal Pradesh on June 10-11, and Assam and Meghalaya during the next five days.
Why is this important?
The monsoon accounts for around 70 per cent of the country’s annual rainfall and is considered the lifeline of its agriculture-based economy.
The monsoon is running several days behind schedule in covering peninsular India and is in the midst of what experts have called a weak phase, a potential cause for concern for farmers who are waiting to sow their crops.
It is likely to reach Uttar Pradesh between 16 and 22 June, the IMD said in an extended range forecast.
Since 1 June, when the monsoon season begins, the country has received 42 per cent less rainfall, with northwest India recording a rainfall deficiency of 94 per cent.
However, above normal rainfall is likely in the northeast, east India (excluding Odisha) and northwest India between June 16 and June 22, the IMD said.
The IMD had last month said the southwest monsoon will be normal and quantitatively be 103 percent of the 50-year average of 87 cm rainfall received during the entire season.
It will be the seventh consecutive year when the country would receive normal rainfall during the June-September period.
“All India cumulative rainfall… (June 1-8) is -42%, and over northwest India, it is below LPA by -94%,” IMD said in a release, as per The Times of India.
Private weather forecasting firm Skymet said cumulative pan-India rainfall for the first eight days of June 2022 is among the lowest in the recent past. The deficit for Kerala is 58 per cent for the 1 to 9 June period, according to Skymet.
IMD has predicted a normal monsoon this year, with rainfall at 103 per cent of the long-period average.
Heavy rainfall in North East
Jenamani said extremely heavy rainfall is predicted over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya over the next few days.
Assam was hit by a wave of floods last month. Intense pre-monsoon rain and flooding caused massive damage to the state’s infrastructure, including bridges, roads and railway tracks.
What about Delhi-NCR?
Asked if monsoon will reach Delhi-NCR and other parts of northwest India around the usual date, Jenamani said it was too early to say anything.
Last year, the IMD had forecast that monsoon would arrive in Delhi nearly two weeks before its usual date of June 27.
However, it reached the capital and neighbouring areas only on 13 July, making it the most delayed in 19 years.
The monsoon had entered a “break” phase and there was virtually no progress from June 20 to July 8.
With inputs from agencies