Normal rainfall forecast as monsoon arrives in state

The state meteorological centre on Sunday confirmed the arrival of southwest monsoon in the state, which was keenly awaited by farmers and hydro power units. However, the met office said, the monsoon is yet to touch a couple of districts, the rains will occur all over the state after three to four days.

“The monsoon has not yet touched Sundergarh and Rourkela region and has partly touched some interior area. But we have declared that monsoon has entered Odisha. We are expecting a normal or more than normal monsoon this season,” said Sarat Chandra Sahu, director of the regional weather office.

He said even though there was a delay in monsoon this year by three to four days, the conditions are favourable for a normal rainfall.

The South-west Monsoon plays a crucial role in farm output and hydro power production in the state. More than half of 6 million hactares of agricultural land in the state depend upon monsoon rains for the summer crops, mainly rice. Rice cultivation is key to Odisha’s farm output due to suitable climatic condition and food habit of the people. However, rice production has been sliding in the past couple of years in the state due to shrinking area.

In 2011-12 khariff season, the rice output in Odisha contracted by 15 per cent to 5.12 million tonne due to devastating floods. But it was also lower in 2010-11 at 6 million tonne, from 6.3 million tonne in 2009-10 kharif season.

The onset of monsoon rains also brings a sigh of relief to hydro power plant officials who depend on it heavily to step up generation. The state gets about 400 to 500 Mw cheaper power from its several hydro power stations, out of the total supply of about 2,700 Mw.