The Hindu : National : Monsoon arrives in Delhi, covers 95 per cent of the country

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Monsoon arrives in Delhi, covers 95 per cent of the country

P. Sunderarajan

NEW DELHI: The much-awaited south-west monsoon finally arrived in Delhi, bringing down the temperatures sharply, much to the delight of the citizens who had been going through a torrid time, following a severe heat wave that swept the city for days . (The normal date for the onset here is June 29.)

Speaking to The Hindu, a relieved Director General of the India Meteorological Department, Ajit Tyagi said the system had covered almost every other part of north India. “The monsoon has now covered almost 95 per cent of the country. Only some pockets are still to be covered,” he said.

Asked about the prospects for the coming days, he said the monsoon would remain active across the country at least for the next one week, although its intensity would vary from region to region.

“Weather prediction models have predicted that the rainfall, for the country as a whole, for July would be 93 per cent of the long period average for the month, and for August, it would [be] 100 per cent of the LPA for that month. We are confident that the forecast would come true and the rainfall deficit that had built up so far would be wiped out,” Mr. Tyagi said.

The monsoon this year has been progressing in fits and starts. Although, it started with a bang, setting over Kerala on May 23, over a week before the normal date of June 1, as late as Sunday, the northern limit of the system could reach only up to Bhuj and Baroda in Gujarat; Indore, Hoshangabad, Rajnandgaon in Madhya Pradesh; Cuttack and Balasore in Orissa; Bankura in West Bengal and Gangtok in Sikkim, raising apprehensions of drought-like situations in different parts of the country.

Noting that presently there was an east-west trough extending from Sriganganagar in Rajasthan to the head of the Bay of Bengal and two upper air cyclonic circulations, one over Punjab and the other over Gujarat and adjoining South Pakistan , IMD experts said that these would help in taking the monsoon forward.

There are indications that a low-pressure area could develop in the Bay of Bengal around July 7 .

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