Monsoon covers 90% of drought-hit Maharashtra, set to enter central India

Monsoon has finally reached drought-hit Maharashtra about 10 days behind schedule, but, according to the meteorological department in Mumbai, almost 90 per cent of the state is receiving rainfall.

''Monsoon has arrived in many parts of Maharashtra on Sunday, it's active in 90 per cent of Maharashtra,'' reports quoting sources at the meteorological department as saying.

However, reports pointed out that instead of a south-western entry, the onset of rains in the state this time has taken place in the eastern parts of Vidarbha.

Over the next two weeks, ending 30 June, rainfall is expected to be close to normal on an all-India scale with no large departure.

Meanwhile, monsoon has started showing signs of a revival with the offshore trough along the west coast, which sets the thumb rule for intensity and spread of rainfall, showing some life.

Although clouds have been sparse beyond the Karnataka-Kerala coast and was just enough to nudge the rain belt largely over eastern India, the persisting cyclonic circulation off North Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Southern Odisha helped re-orient incoming flows from the Arabian Sea back towards the mainland.

The offshore trough and the cyclonic circulation will continue to act in tandem to push the monsoon farther into the farming heartland over central and north-west India, according to forecasts.

Over the next two weeks, ending 30 June, rainfall is expected to be close to normal on an all-India scale with no large departure, according to an extended forecast put out by the India Met Department, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, and Central Institute for Dryland Agriculture.

However, there will be improvement of rainfall over central India and north-west India during the second week (June 24-30) compared to the first week (June 17-23).

Rainfall over the South Peninsula is expected to be normal to slightly above normal during the next two weeks.

Normal or above-normal rainfall is forecast during the next fortnight over Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Sikkim, Bihar, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, western Madhya Pradesh, Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, Telangana, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema, interior Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala.

Normal or above normal rainfall is likely to occur in either of the next two weeks in Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Assam, Meghalaya, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Saurashtra, Kutch, Konkan, Goa, Vidarbha, and coastal Karnataka.

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts maintains that monsoon flows will strengthen from today.