Monsoon hits Kerala three days ahead of schedule
The southwest monsoon arrived three days ahead of schedule in Kerala on Tuesday, heralding the start of the rainy season in mainland India and the onset of the summer-sown or kharif agricultural season that accounts for half the country’s annual food output.
It has been raining for the past two days in Kerala, the first to receive the annual rains that are the lifeline of India. The monsoon is critical for agriculture because nearly 60% of India’s cropped area lacks access to assured irrigation; a good monsoon is one enabling factor of a healthy rural economy;. Two-thirds of Indians depend on agriculture for a livelihood. With the pre-monsoon showers this week, days, there was no fanfare to the arrival of the monsoon this year. Indeed, many people got to know that the monsoon had arrived, and before schedule, after the India Meteorological Department (IMD) made the announcement in New Delhi.
The monsoon usually arrives around June 1 every year. After arrival in Kerala, the rains usually take 15 days to cover the entire southern peninsula and most parts of the country by July.
The onset is in line with IMD’s
NEW DELHI:
prediction, which comes with a model error of ± 4 days.
Skymet Weather, a private forecasting agency, had announced that conditions for the onset of monsoon had been fulfilled by Monday and the onset of rains would happen on May 28.
Only the IMD can officially declare the arrival of the monsoon. It had predicted rains would arrive over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where they reach before the mainland, by May 23. “There was a delay in the onset of monsoon over the Andaman & Nicobar Islands because of the cyclonic system in the Arabian Sea that was blocking the advance of the monsoon. However, since that weakened into a depression, the monsoon has advanced quickly,” DS Pai, senior scientist at the IMD, said.
“Heavy rain was reported from many parts of the state and Lakshadweep. Amini in Lakshadweep reported 24 mm rain and Konni (Pathanamthitta) in Kerala has 18 mm. Conditions are conducive for further advancement of clouds,” said IMD regional director K Santosh.