Monsoon inches northwards; covers Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh

Southwest Monsoon started northwards on Thursday after a 10day lull covering parts of Odisha Chhattisgarh and large tracts of Vidarbha bringing relief to the parched regions that were reeling under hot weather conditionsIndia Meteorological Department data showed the country has received 17 per cent deficient rainfall than normal this monsoon season 77 mm as against the normal of 928 mm between June 1 and 20Southwest Monsoon has further advanced into some more parts of Vidarbha Chhattisgarh Odisha Northwest Bay of Bengal SubHimalayan West Bengal and some parts of Bihar the weather office saidThe IMD said conditions were favourable for further advance of Southwest Monsoon into some more parts of Gujarat Maharashtra Madhya Pradesh Odisha Gangetic and subHimalayan West Bengal Jharkhand Bihar and east Uttar Pradesh during the next three to four daysAfter reaching the Indian mainland two days earlier than usual and swiftly covering many other states the rainbearing system made no significant progress between June 10 and 19 extending the wait for north India which is reeling from a sweltering heat waveSince June 1 northwest India has recorded 142 mm of rainfall 63 per cent less than normal central India 58 mm 33 per cent less than normal the south peninsula 1176 mm 13 per cent excess than normal and east and northeast India 1885 mm four per cent less than normalIn an update to its forecast earlier this week the IMD had said monsoon rains in the month of June would be below normalThe southwest monsoon advanced into parts of the Nicobar Islands on May 19 It subsequently covered most parts of the south and some parts of the central Bay of Bengal by May 26 along with Cyclone Remal It simultaneously reached Kerala and the northeastern states on May 30 two and six days earlier than normal respectivelyLast month the IMD said the country could see abovenormal rainfall in the fourmonth monsoon season June to September with cumulative rainfall estimated at 106 per cent of the LPA of 87 cmBelownormal monsoon rainfall is expected in northeast India normal in the northwest and abovenormal in central and south peninsular regions of the countryIndias core monsoon zone covering most of the rainfed agriculture areas in the country is predicted to receive abovenormal rainfall this season the MeT office saidThe monsoon is critical for Indias agricultural landscape with 52 per cent of the net cultivated area relying on it It is also crucial for replenishing reservoirs critical for drinking water and power generationAccording to the Central Water Commission water storage in 150 major reservoirs in India dropped to just 22 per cent of their live storage last week amid the prevailing heat wave exacerbating water shortages in many states and significantly affecting hydropower generationJune and July are considered the most important monsoon months for agriculture because most of the sowing for the Kharif crop takes place during this periodEl Nino conditions are prevailing at present and La Nina may set in by AugustSeptember scientists saidEl Nino the periodic warming of surface waters in the central Pacific Ocean is associated with weaker monsoon winds and drier conditions in India La Nina the antithesis of El Nino leads to plentiful rainfall during the monsoon seasonThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever