Southwest monsoon covers India, 36 days after touching Kerala coast

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the usual date for the monsoon to cover the entire country is July 8 and, therefore, this year it has been delayed by a day

The southwest monsoon covered the entire country on Thursday, 36 days after making landfall over the Kerala coast. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the normal date for the monsoon to cover the entire country was July 8, making this year’s advance a day behind schedule. 

“The southwest monsoon has further advanced into the remaining parts of Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab, thereby covering the entire country on July 9,” IMD said. The weather office, however, warned of a significant reduction in rainfall activity over central India, including Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh, from Thursday onwards, and over south peninsular India from July 10. 

 

The last time the southwest monsoon took longer to cover the country after its onset over Kerala was in 2021, when it arrived on June 3 and covered the entire country only on July 13. This year’s progression ranks among the slowest in the past five years. 

The monsoon reached Kerala on June 4 this year, three days later than normal, before completing its advance across the country on July 9, according to IMD data. 

After a subdued start, the southwest monsoon has gathered pace since the beginning of July, narrowing the cumulative rainfall deficit from nearly 30 per cent on June 30 to around 15 per cent as of July 8. The improvement has been driven by a strong revival of monsoon activity over western and central India. 

The revival has also lifted water levels in key reservoirs. Total storage in the 166 reservoirs monitored by the government rose sharply during the week ended July 9 as widespread rainfall lashed western and southern India. Water storage increased to 32.38 per cent of live capacity at full reservoir level, up from 26 per cent a week earlier. Reservoirs across western India reported storage levels nearly 48 per cent above their 10-year average. Overall storage remained below the level recorded a year ago but was higher than the decadal average. The improved rainfall is expected to aid kharif sowing, which was lagging last year’s pace by about 22 per cent as of July 5. Despite the recent revival, IMD has forecast a below-normal monsoon this year, with seasonal rainfall during June-September expected at 90 per cent of the long period average. 

The Centre is working on a multi-pronged strategy to mitigate the impact of El Niño and below-normal rainfall. Earlier this week, the Prime Minister’s Office chaired a high-level meeting with senior officials from the agriculture, power, rural development, economic affairs, and consumer affairs ministries to assess the likely impact of El Niño on different sectors of the economy.

According to an official statement, the ministries reviewed their preparedness and were asked to closely monitor the evolving situation while drawing up district- and local-level strategies to minimise the impact of deficient rainfall on agriculture and economic activity. 

The agriculture ministry is also monitoring the situation closely. It has identified around 375 districts that could be vulnerable to below-normal rainfall, of which 111 have been classified as “extremely vulnerable”.