Monsoon reaches Barmer two weeks early as Delhi desperately waits
The southwest monsoon has reached Barmer in West Rajasthan, one of its last outposts, two weeks before its normal schedule but is yet to arrive in the North Indian plains including Delhi, the MeT office said on Tuesday. The Northern limit of the southwest monsoon (NLM) continues to pass through Barmer, Bhilwara, Dholpur, Aligarh, Meerut, Ambala, and Amritsar, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
Parts of West UP, Punjab, Haryana yet to receive rainfall
After arriving two days late in Kerala, the monsoon had raced across the country, covering eastern, central, and adjoining northwest India seven to ten days earlier than normal. It has even covered parts of North India, including Rajasthan's Barmer, a border district and mainly desert area, but parts of West Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana are yet to receive rainfall.
Southwest monsoon usually reaches West Rajasthan by July first week
According to Kuldeep Srivastava, Head of the IMD's regional forecasting center, Barmer is among the few stations which are usually covered last by the southwest monsoon which reaches West Rajasthan by the first week of July. "A system in the Arabian Sea provided an impetus to the monsoon which covered Barmer in early June," IMD's Director-General Mrutunjay Mohapatra said.
Earlier, monsoon was predicted to reach Delhi by June 15
In the case of Delhi, Haryana, parts of Punjab, West Uttar Pradesh, and West Rajasthan, the easterlies (trade winds) bring monsoon from the Bay of Bengal. "But there has been no active system currently in the Bay of Bengal," Mohapatra said. The meteorological office had earlier predicted that the wind system may reach Delhi by June 15, which would have been 12 days early.
Immediate relief from heat and humidity looks unlikely
Normally, the monsoon reaches Delhi by June 27 and covers the entire country by July 8. Last year, the wind system had reached Delhi on June 25 and covered the entire country by June 29. However, this year, the wait has been overdue even as the mercury and humidity have continued to soar, the IMD said, adding immediate relief was unlikely.
A delay of another week is on the cards
"Prevailing meteorological conditions and large scale atmospheric features suggest no favorable conditions are likely to develop for further advance of southwest monsoon into remaining parts of Rajasthan, West Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Punjab during the next six to seven days," the IMD said.
