Monsoon sets in over Bihar, WB, Odisha; Delhi awaits

South-west monsoon on Friday made its way to Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal with rains drenching parts of the three states but Delhi still reeled under sultry conditions.

The weatherman has predicted heavy to very heavy rains in Bihar, Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, coastal Karnataka and Kerala on Saturday.

Sultry weather conditions troubled the residents in Delhi that had a high temperature of 39.5 degree celsius. The minimum in the city was recorded at 25.8 degree celsius and humidity level between 45-86%.

The maximums of the three other metropolitan cities of Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai settled at 32.8, 37.1 and 35.2 degree celsius, respectively.

Heavy rains lashed Kerala and Lakshadweep with several houses suffering damage and trees getting uprooted at many places.

A tree fell on the tracks at Nemom when the Thiruvananthapram-Chennai-Egmore train was to pass, following which rail traffic was held up for some time. Many houses were damaged in strong winds in the district.

Several instances of trees getting uprooted were reported from various parts of the state capital, causing disruption in power supplies. Alathur and Mankara in Palakkad district received 9 cm of rains while Ottapalam and Enmayur, also in Palakkad, and Perinthalmana in Malappuram received 7 cm of rainfall each, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) bulletin said.

Bihar's northeast part received monsoon rains. Monsoon is expected to advance to other areas in the next three to four days.

The Met department said first monsoon rains were witnessed in Araria, Kishanganj, Purea, Katihar and Supaul districts. Purnea gauged a rainfall of 23.7 mm till 5:30 p.m., while Gaya and Bhagalpur witnessed 1.8 mm and 3.3 mm of precipitation respectively.

Monsoon also set in over some parts of Odisha. It has covered districts of Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Puri and also some portions of the adjoining districts of Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, Khorda, Nayagarh, Ganjam and Gajapati, IMD said.

The department said heavy rainfall was likely at one or two places over north and southern districts of the state on Saturday.

The Met office announced arrival of the monsoon in Gangetic West Bengal and the sub-Himalayan belt of the state with Bankura receiving 45.2 mm of rains and Asansol 43 mm.