Fanned by twin weather systems in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, the northeast monsoon is expected to set in around Monday, more than a week ahead of its normal date.
The all-India weather summary and forecast bulletin issued by the IMD on Saturday said the northeast monsoon was likely to commence over Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka around October 8. This coincides with the early withdrawal of the southwest monsoon from the remaining parts of the country.
While the well-marked low pressure area in the Arabian Sea is set to intensify into a cyclonic storm on Sunday, a new low pressure area is expected to crop up in the Bay of Bengal by Monday, heralding the arrival of the northeast monsoon.
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The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has opened the shutters of all the 16 hydel dam reservoirs as a precautionary measure in the light of the heavy rainfall warning. “The water storage in all the dams is at a comfortable level. We are ready to accommodate the enhanced inflow during the northeast monsoon,” KSEB chairman N.S. Pillai said.
He said the board was constantly monitoring the rainfall in the catchment areas and the inflow into reservoirs.
Mr. Pillai, however, pointed out that the situation in the Chalakudy basin was beyond the control of Kerala as the dams in the upstream areas were managed by Tamil Nadu. The Peringalkuthu dam, the only one in the basin inside Kerala, has a capacity of only 37 million cubic metres, while the upstream dams hold up to 570 mcm.
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“It is like using a cup to control the discharge from a barrel above. The way the upstream dams are managed will have a bearing on the flood levels in the Chalakudy basin,” Mr. Pillai said.