A COOL HEAD IN HOT WEATHER

Monsoon may arrive in first week of June

Respite For Mumbaikars As Mercury Continues To Soar

 

Mumbai: For heat-hit Mumbaikars, who hurriedly return to the sanctions of their air conditioned offices, especially during the lunch hour, the weather bureau has brought in some good news. According to the Indian Meteorology Department (IMD), the monsoon will arrive in Mumbai in the first week of June.
    According to the longrange forecast of IMD, the monsoon is going to be normal this year and will arrive on time. “It is difficult to predict the exact date. But according to our calculations, the monsoon should arrive in Mumbai in the first week of June,’’ said an officer from the Met department in Pune.
    However, there is a possibility that Mumbaikars will get an even earlier respite from the scorching heat this year. According to IIT professor Dr Kapil Gupta, there are good developments in the monsoon system in the Bay of Bengal. “The heating up of the land mass and oceans started early this year. So, the cloud formations have also been early this year. There have been certain north-eastern cities where there has been scattered rainfall already. With all these developments, the monsoon might just come as early as the end of May this year,’’ said Gupta.
    If the monsoon does arrive by the end of May this year, it would be a record of sorts. According to the data collected by the meteorology department for the last 12 years, the monsoon has arrived in the island city only once in the month of May, that too on the last day of the month in 2006. In fact, the statistics seem to suggest that the monsoon tends to keep its date with the city only by the third week of June.
    By these standards, the weather bureau predictions will certainly bring respite to Mumbaikars who have been suffering water woes since the below-average monsoon last year. “Generally, the monsoon comes to Kerala first and Mumbai follows a few days later. This time, the monsoon is likely to hit Kerala on June 1 and Goa on June 4. The meteorology department is soon going to issue separate forecasts for the four geographical regions of India,’’ said the officer.
BMC digging deep
    The unusually hot summer has rendered most reservoirs supplying water to the city dry. With the rains still three weeks away, the BMC is now stepping up efforts to dig more wells. With the city using 70% of its water for non-potable purposes, the BMC can reduce pressure on the lakes by turning to these alternative sources for non-potable water.