Monsoon enters Andhra Pradesh; rain continues in Kerala

The IMD has forecast moderate to rather heavy rain along coastal AP

The south-west monsoon entered Andhra Pradesh (AP) on Monday and is likely to advance in the next two to three days, the met office said. The monsoon, which touched Kerala coast on Saturday, has arrived in AP two days in advance.

The state disaster management department also confirmed while quoting the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) that monsoon has set in over parts of the Rayalaseema region.

Several places in Rayalaseema and some parts of coastal AP and Telanganahave been receiving rains since Sunday. The IMD has forecast moderate to rather heavy rain or thundershowers at many places over coastal AP, Rayalaseema and at a few places over Telangana during the next 48 hours.

It warned that heavy rain would occur at isolated places in Chittoor, Anantapur, Kurnool and Kadapa districts of Rayalaseema and Nellore, Prakasam, Guntur, Krishna, East and West Godavari districts of coastal AP in the next 48 hours.

Officials said the Tungabhadra river in Kurnool district was in spate due to heavy rain in the upper reaches of Karnataka. Five people were killed due to lightning in Guntur district on Sunday, while four people were injured near Hyderabad.

Several parts of the state received rains last week under the impact of a low pressure area over the Bay of Bengal, providing relief from the intense heat. According to officials, 524 people had died due to the heat wave across the state since April 1.

Meanwhile, it was raining continuously in many parts of Kerala on Monday following the onset of the monsoon on June 1.

Major cities like Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi reported scattered rain. Heavy downpour over weekends damaged crops in Malapuram district.

The Meteorological centre in Thiruvananthapuram has forecast heavy rainfall (in excess of 7 cm) in isolated parts till early Wednesday. Strong winds have also been predicted along the coastline until Tuesday. Thaliparamba in Kannur and Vadakara in Kozhikode recorded maximum rainfall of 12 cm for the day, while Karipur in Malappuram recorded 8.8 cm rainfall. Among the cities, Thiruvananthapuram (4.3 cm) and Kochi (5.4 cm) recorded the maximum rainfall.

The Meteorological Centre has described sea conditions as “rough to very rough.” It has advised fishermen against venturing into the sea. The wind speed is expected to be in the 50-60 kmph range over the next 24 hours.

Children who had school re-openings had to endure the effects of monsoon on Monday, with traffic jams reported in the capital city early in the morning, while roadblocks were also reported in cities like Kochi.