Monsoon on track, says IMD; warns of heavy rainfall in northeast states

The monsoon is progressing normally and is likely to reach Maharashtra in the next two days, the India Meteorological Department said on Thursday.

The MeT office has also warned of isolated extremely heavy rainfall (more than 204.5 mm) in Arunachal Pradesh on June 10-11, and Assam and Meghalaya during the next five days.

The monsoon accounts for around 70 per cent of the country's annual rainfall and is considered the lifeline of its agriculture-based economy.

Senior IMD scientist R K Jenamani said monsoon touched the Kerala coast on May 29 and covered south and central Arabian Sea, Kerala, parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and the entire northeast between May 31 and June 7.

"There is no delay in the progress of the monsoon. It is likely to reach Maharashtra in the next two days and cover Mumbai in the subsequent two days," he told reporters here, dismissing reports that its progress had slowed down.

"We have strong monsoon features -- there are strong winds and clouds have started developing -- for the next two days," he added.

The scientist said conditions are favourable for the further advance of monsoon over Goa and some more parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in the next two days.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had last month said the southwest monsoon will be normal and quantitatively be 103 per cent of the 50-year average of 87 cm rainfall received in the entire season.

It will be the seventh consecutive year when the country would receive normal rainfall during the June-to-September period.

Jenamani said extremely heavy rainfall is predicted over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya over the next few days.

Assam was hit by a wave of floods last month. Intense pre-monsoon rain and flooding caused massive damage to the state's infrastructure, including bridges, roads and railway tracks.

Asked if the monsoon will reach Delhi-NCR and other parts of northwest India around the usual date, Jenamani said it was too early to say anything.

Last year, the IMD had forecast that the monsoon would arrive in Delhi nearly two weeks before its usual date (June 27). However, it reached the capital and neighboring areas only on July 13, making it the most delayed in 19 years.

The monsoon had entered a "break" phase and there was virtually no progress from June 20 to July 8.