Central India, west coast set for intense monsoon
nNEWDELHI: Northeast and eastern India, which have reported flooding this week, will continue to receive widespread and heavy rains over the next five days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Wednesday. Intense monsoon activity is now likely to begin over central India and the western coast as IMD issued an alert to authorities to remain prepared for any emergencies.
The region covering eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, sub-himalayan West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, and Sikkim have been receiving very heavy and extremely heavy rain since June 26. According to IMD’S weekly weather report released on Wednesday, Assam received 104%, Meghalaya 141%, Sikkim 304%, and Bihar received 99% excess rain over the past week from June 24 onwards. The rain has triggered flooding in Assam, landslides in Sikkim, and created a flood-like situation in parts of Bihar.
IMD on Wednesday issued an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rains in eastern Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Konkan, Goa, central Maharashtra from Friday to Sunday. Orange alert implies that authorities should be prepared for any related emergencies.
National Weather Forecasting Centre head K Sathi Devi said the intensity of rain has reduced marginally over the northeast and eastern India but rain will continue for a few days. “Intense and widespread rains will start in central India including Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and parts of the west coast like Konkan, Goa and coastal Karnataka.”
Devi said weather stations in the northeast have been recording extremely heavy rains (over 20 cm) since last week. “This was a result of orography [topography of mountains] and the moisture laden south-south westerly winds blowing over the region.”
The monsoon trough shifted to the north around June 26 with a convergence of strong southerly
The country over the last month has received 15% excess rains, IMD said
Jammu & Kashmir
Himachal Pradesh
Punjab
Haryana
Gujarat
Daman & Diu
Dadar & Nagar Haveli
Telangana
Karnataka
Arabian Sea
Lakshadweep 60%
Rajasthan
Goa
Maharashtra
Kerala and south-westerly winds from Bay of Bengal over the northeast and eastern India. Now the trough is gradually moving back to its normal position.
IMD bulletin said a cyclonic circulation is lying over south Gujarat and another over eastern Uttar Pradesh and its neighbourhood in lower and mid-tropospheric levels. “Under its influence, fairly widespread heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely along the west coast, Gujarat and interior Maharashtra during the next 5 days,” it said. 20% to 59%
Madhya Pradesh
Ladakh
Chandigarh
Uttarakhand
Uttar Pradesh
Tamil Nadu -19% to 19%
Andhra Pradesh
Bihar
Puducherry
From June 1-July 1, 2020
Sikkim
Odisha -59% to -20%
Bay of Bengal
Chhattisgarh
It added extremely heavy rain is also very likely over Konkan and Goa on Friday and Saturday and over Madhya Maharashtra on Saturday.
R K Jenamani, a senior IMD scientist, said there will be a high convergence of strong moist westerly and south-westerly winds from the Arabian sea very likely along western coast till Sunday and over northwestern plains and central India from Friday. “All conditions are favourable for intense monsoon activity over the west coast and central
Assam -99% to -60%
Arunachal Pradesh
Nagaland
Manipur
Mizoram
Tripura
Meghalaya
West Bengal
Jharkhand
Andaman & Nicobar
India. Monsoon progression and rains have been very good so far.”
The country over the last month has received 15% excess rains. The monsoon accounts for 70% of India’s annual rainfall and is critical to the country’s agricultural sector. At least 700 million people are dependent on agriculture in India for their livelihood. The monsoon is crucial for the yield of rice, wheat, sugarcane, and oilseeds in a country, where farming accounts for about 15% of the economy but employs over half of its population.