JOIN USSignalling respite after a harsh summer, the south-west monsoon kept its date with Kerala as rains hit the state’s coast on Tuesday, India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials said here. Aided by Cyclone Mora, the monsoon’s onset was also recorded over the north-eastern States.
The IMD said conditions were favourable for the monsoon to advance into more parts of the south Arabian Sea, Maldives-Lakshadweep area, Tamil Nadu and the Bay of Bengal during Tuesday.
S Sudevan, IMD Thiruvananthapuram Director, said conditions were in line with predictions of a “good monsoon”; the IMD has predicted the season’s rainfall to be 96% of the long period average. “The rains will certainly dispel a lot of anxieties, especially in Kerala where we’ve had one of our worst droughts.
The reservoirs have dried up but the catchment areas are now set to receive good rains. The winds are strong, the conditions are good,” Sudevan told Deccan Herald. In 2016, the monsoon had set over Kerala and Lakshadweep on June 8, a day after its scheduled onset.
On Tuesday, storage in the state’s 16 major reservoirs stood at 12%. The southern and central districts of the state continued to receive steady rains for the third consecutive day. In Kochi, water-logging was reported on Tuesday.
Thiruvananthapuram district received steady rainfall over the past couple of days while rains have also started covering more parts of the northern districts.
“The situation is better this year; the monsoon has set in a week earlier than last year. Further, we had good rains in May this year, especially in Alappuzha, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts,” Sudevan said.