Heavy rain may be inundating Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Surat, parts of Uttar Pradesh and east India, but the monsoons that began with a bang in June have actually turned below average this week for the first time in the season. In fact, it has fallen 5 per cent short.
Overall though, the country has received a total of 298.7 mm of rain so far this season, which is 19 per cent above average. The Eastern and North-eastern part of India are, however, at 34 per cent below average, as per the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). The IMD has predicted that rain would pick up after the second half of next week in central and eastern India.
The first month of the monsoon season saw the heaviest downpours since 2001, with rainfall registering 32 per cent above average. A low pressure area formed over coastal Odisha and adjoining northwest Bay of Bengal during second half of the week, caused flash floods and landslides that claimed two lives.
The situation in Uttar Pradesh is also grim with the loss of 11 lives. The Sharda, Ghaghra and Budhi Rapti rivers in Uttar Pradesh continued to flow above the danger mark. Even Yamuna is flowing close to danger mark near Mathura in UP.
Delhi also got rid of its dry spell, witnessing 6.9 mm rain during the day. Rajasthan received light to moderate rain at isolated places in Jaipur, Bharatpur and Bikaner divisions during the past 24 hours.
IMD has, however, warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall would occur at few places over Gujarat region during next 48 hours besides over one or two places over west Madhya Pradesh, Konkan and Goa and coastal Karnataka during the next 72 hours.
IMD officials explained that Gujarat is getting heavy rain due to the offshore trough extending between Gujarat and Kerala coast, with the Arabian Sea witnessing a lot of activity. A low pressure area over the Bay of Bengal and upper air circulation over northwest Rajasthan are sending more rain-bearing clouds towards the state.
The IMD has also predicted normal rain/thundershowers at most places along west coast and over Sub Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim throughout the week and at many places. Rain may increase in intensity over Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand during the second half of the week.
Madhya Pradesh, East Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and parts of Maharashtra will also get rain during the first two days of next week and decrease considerably thereafter. As per the IMD, south-west monsoons have already covered 88 per cent of the country.