Monsoon progresses faster in India this yr
Advances into Gujarat, MP, Odisha Chhattisgarh, Maha, Telangana, AP 6 days ahead of schedule
The South-west monsoon may have arrived late in Kerala but it is sweeping across the country and is expected to cover almost all of India by June 22, around a fortnight ahead of schedule, the result of the formation of a low pressure area in the Bay of Bengal.
The earliest the monsoon has covered the entire country before is June 16, 2013, and that was nine years ago. In 2020, the monsoon covered the entire country only by June 27. In 2019, this date was June 30, and in 2018, June 2019.
The monsoon arrived in Kerala coast on June 3, three days after its normal day of arrival, but reached Mumbai on May 8, two days before its expected date of arrival. It is also likely to reach Delhi earlier than usual, according to Kuldeep Shri vastava, who heads IMD’S regional weather forecasting centre. The monsoon usually arrives in Delhi by the end of June. This year, the expectation is that it could arrive by June 22.
“The monsoon is likely to advance into remaining parts of Maharashtra, some more parts of Gujarat, remaining parts of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, some parts of Madhya Pradesh and east Uttar Pradesh, entire Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Bihar during the next two to three days,” India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a statement.
The early arrival of the monsoon is good news for farmers. Almost 60% of India’s cultivated area is rain-fed, and the monsoon crop, kharif, depends entirely on the arrival and intensity of the monsoon. In general, good monsoons bode well for the rural economy. In its second forecast, IMD said monsoon rainfall this year would be normal, at 101% of the long period