SHOWER OF HAPPINESS

Monsoon keeps date with Kerala

Arrives On Time As Met Predicted, Parched India Wants 98% Rain Forecast To Come True

Thiruvananthapuram: The only hope of relief for millions of Indians who have been enduring the harshest summer in living memory has now rolled into Kerala. The Met department on Monday announced the onset of the southwest monsoon in India after rains in the southern
state for the past few days met all requisite criteria for the official declaration to be made. The monsoon is expected to be normal this year with the country projected to get 98% of its seasonal quota.
    “The onset of the monsoon over Kerala signals its arrival over the Indian subcontinent and represents the beginning of the rainy season. That has happened today,’’ K Santosh, director of the IMD centre, said here, adding there was a 5% margin of error in the prediction. There was, however, no error in the IMD’s prediction of when the monsoon will hit the mainland—the predicted date was May 30, give or take four days. IMD’s previous best prediction of the monsoon’s arrival was in 2008, when it hit Kerala two days after the given date. The normal date of monsoon’s arrival is June 1 while it hits Delhi around June 30. The arrival of rains is bound to cheer millions of farmers across the country, given the drought last year that devastated the kharif crop across much of the country. Average rainfall in India during the monsoon season is 89cm, as against the annual average of around 120cm.
    The IMD expects the monsoon to move further into the country over the next two days. A department release said, “Southwest monsoon has further advanced into most parts of south Arabian Sea, entire Kerala, south Tamil Nadu and some parts of southwest Bay of Bengal on Monday. Conditions are favourable for advance into some parts of central Arabian Sea, coastal and south interior Karnataka and Goa during the next 48 hours. Further advance will depend on the intensity and direction of movement of the low pressure area currently lying over the Arabian Sea.’’
    The monsoon had arrived in the Andamans on May 17, three days ahead of schedule. It usually takes 10 days from then to reach Kerala but cyclone Laila delayed the process.
    In the last 24 hours, Kerala received good rainfall with Vadakara in Kozhikode district recording the maximum of 16cm. There was heavy pre-monsoon activity across the state over the past few weeks with the sun keeping off for most of the day. Kerala’s average rainfall for the season is 214cm. However, in 2009, it was 9% less, “which is still within the normal range’’, Santosh said.
    There was overnight monsoon activity in the state capital while the day was sunny. The Met office attributed this to “unfavourable winds’’.
    Meanwhile, umbrella and raincoat dealers have reported brisk sales with schools across the state set to reopen on Tuesday.
24 killed in thunderstorm: At least 24 people were killed in UP as thunderstorm hit several parts of the state, uprooting trees and electric poles, officials said on Monday. While nine persons were killed in Pratapgarh, eight deaths were reported from Aligarh, two each from Jaunpur and Mau and one each from Sultanpur, Lucknow and Nawabganj in stormrelated incidents since Sunday.