Monsoon arrives in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: Finally, relief seems in sight for those suffering under the blistering heat. The monsoon has arrived in Kerala, confirming the Met Department's forecast on Monday.

The monsoon is expected to advance up the coast, and reach Mumbai in 7 days, before it spreads out to different parts of the country. The welcome news comes at a time when many parts of the country are reeling under a severe heat wave.

"Taking into the consideration wind, rain condition, distribution of rainfall and cloudiness, all conditions are becoming favourable and today we have declared monsoon over Kerala. Monsoon has reached Kerala and coastal Karnataka. Monsoon is expected to reach Mumbai in two days," said IMD Director BP Yadav.

The monsoon is expected to advance up the coast, and reach Mumbai in 7 days, before it spreads out to different parts of the country.

Kerala usually receives monsoon showers by June 1, but scientists said there was no need to paint a gloomy picture as the progress of the seasonal rainfall phenomenon was well with the forecast limits which have a model error of four days.

Pai said conditions were favourable for further advance of monsoon. Monsoon watchers attribute the slight delay in the onset of monsoon to Typhoon Mawar which was active in western Pacific Ocean off the Philippines and sucking away moisture and wind currents to power itself.

The IMD declares the onset of monsoon over Kerala when 50 per cent of the 14 observation stations in the state and Lakshadweep islands report rainfall for 48 hours.

Monsoon rains are crucial for agriculture as only 40 per cent of the cultivable area is under irrigation. The farm sector contributes about only 15 per cent to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but it employs about 60 per cent of India's population.

On the back of good monsoon in 2010 and 2011, the country harvested a record foodgrains production of 245 million tonnes and 252.56 million tonnes, respectively.

A Thiruvananthapuram report said widespread rains occurred in most parts of Kerala. Conditions were favourable for further advance of the monsoon to all parts of the state and also in the South Arabian sea, local MeT officials said.

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