A waterlogged road amid rain in Pune on June 8. (PTI)
The monsoon has progressed almost normally so far. However, its current progress over Odisha and Gangetic West Bengal is sluggish which has increased heat stress and raised humidity levels over the region
The southwest monsoon is inching towards Chhattisgarh and Odisha after covering most of the southern states with heavy seasonal rain. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), it is expected to cover parts of Odisha, Coastal Andhra Pradesh and northwest Bay of Bengal over the next three-four days.
The monsoon, responsible for providing nearly 75% of the annual rain, has progressed quite normally so far. It arrived simultaneously over Kerala and the north-east region ahead of its normal date and moved across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra and Goa. It reached Mumbai two days early providing the much-needed respite from the soaring temperatures.
The northern limit of the monsoon currently passes through Navsari (Maharashtra), Chandrapur (Vidarbha region), Sukma (Chhattisgarh), Malkangiri (Odisha), Vizianagaram, (coastal Andhra Pradesh) and Islampur (West Bengal). Heavy rain continues over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, and most parts of Northeast India and several southern states.
However, the progress of monsoon remains somewhat sluggish over the Gangetic West Bengal and Odisha. It was expected to reach Kolkata around June 11, and Cuttack (Odisha) around June 12, but the seasonal rain is yet to commence in the cities. This has also raised concerns over a possible break in the monsoon, which may even delay its arrival over Central and North-west India.
According to the weather department, the monsoon is expected to cover Bihar, Jharkhand by June 16-18, Uttar Pradesh from June 20-30, and reach Delhi around June 27. But any delay is likely to fuel the intense heatwaves over the region which has borne the brunt of blistering heatwaves for an unusually-long period this summer.
The heatwaves hit Northwest India around May 17 and continued to sweep the region till June 5. However, the weather department has once again issued heatwave warnings for Northwest India and eastern states at least till June 15. This includes parts of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand as well as Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand, where temperatures continue to hover around 42-46℃, which is three-five degrees above normal. The mercury shot to 47.1℃ in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday.
The department remains confident of its forecast of above-normal rain this season, especially during August-September due to the evolving global climatic conditions. The monsoon usually covers entire India by July 8. However, its progress over the next two weeks would determine if it will be able to stick to the date this year.
