The southwestern monsoon may touch the Kerala coast, its entry point to the Indian subcontinent, on Thursday. According to scientists at the Thiruvananthapuram unit of the Indian Meteorological Department, the monsoon activity is likely to intensify in Kerala within 24 hours of its touchdown.
As the conditions were favourable, the monsoon could lash the western reaches of the Arabian Sea, Maldives and certain areas of Bay of Bengal and Tamil Nadu within 48 hours from Wednesday morning, scientists said. The North-East is likely to witness the start of the monsoon by Saturday, according to them.
Though the touchdown in Kerala of the monsoon, lifeline of over 25 crore farmers in the country and seven million in the State, was to happen on June 1 as per the normal schedule, the onset was delayed by four days this year as it had happened in 2012. Many parts of Kerala had been receiving good showers for the past several days, heralding the arrival of the monsoon.
The country had been receiving normal or above-normal rainfalls for the past four years but this pattern may change this year if the calculations of the weathermen prove to be correct. According to them, the country may experience a five-per cent shortfall in the showers due to the El Nino phenomenon.