The Southwest monsoon covered the entire country on Friday, 12 days earlier than the expected scheduled date, bringing in cheers to the farmers. The monsoon usually covers the whole country by July 8.
The monsoon further advanced into the remaining parts of Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab on Friday morning. Gusty winds and rain lashed isolated places in Delhi and some districts in Rajasthan.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the southwest monsoon during the same period was 155.2 millimetres against the normal rainfall of 128 mm which is 21 per cent more than normal. So far, in the first 26 days of the four-month monsoon season that started in June, out of 683 districts in the country, 520 have received 77 per cent rainfall. Only 163 districts have received deficient rains so far.
Dr Kuldeep Shrivastava, head of the regional weather forecasting centre, said monsoon has covered entire India on June 26, 2020. The remaining parts of Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan were covered by monsoon on Friday.
The monsoon advanced ahead of time due to a low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal, which moved west-northwestwards and another cyclonic circulation over central India. The two events created favourable conditions for the monsoon. Due to the shifting of the monsoon trough northwards and convergence of strong southerly and south-westerly winds from Bay of Bengal over northeast and adjoining east India, widespread and heavy to very heavy rainfall will continue over the northeast and east India during the next three days.
Heavy rain in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh is due to a monsoon trough running from Punjab to east Bihar across Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, the IMD said, adding that very heavy rain is likely at some places in eastern UP during next three or four days. Red alert from heavy rain continues in the States of Assam, Sikkim, Himalayan foothills of Bengal and Meghalaya.
Madhya Pradesh has received the maximum - 114 per cent - excess rainfall, Chattisgarh a close second at 104 per cent. Gujarat, Goa and Maharashtra too have received 67 per cent, 51 per cent and 49 per cent more rainfall than what they receive during the period.
Tamil Nadu received 46 per cent less rainfall than what it receives during the period; Puducherry and Kerala have recorded 23 per cent and 10 per cent less rainfall - while central Indian States have received excess or large excess rainfall.
The monsoon usually hits Kerala on June 1 and it takes about 45 days to reach Sri Ganganagar in western Rajasthan, its last outpost in the country.
A good monsoon, which accounts for 70 per cent of India’s annual rainfall, is critical to the fortunes of the agricultural sector, on which at least 700 million people are dependent for a livelihood. The monsoon is crucial for the yield of rice, wheat, sugarcane and oilseeds in a country where farming accounts for about 15 per cent of the economy but employs more than half of its people.
As per the IMD, there will be no rain in central India during this period, and the monsoon will advance very slowly. July and August are very important months for agriculture, and we are expecting a favourable monsoon during those two months.
The early arrival of monsoon was last recorded in 2013, when the entire country was covered by June 16. This had also coincided with the deadly Uttarakhand flash floods. “After 2013, monsoon has covered the country so rapidly this year,” IMD said.
