• Friday, March 29, 2024

HEADLINE STORY

India to witness late arrival of monsoon this year; rains may lash Kerala on June 4

Monsoon delivers nearly 70 per cent of the rain that the South Asian nation, one of the fast developing economies in the world, needs to water farmlands and recharge reservoirs.

A pedestrian holds an umbrella as he walks along a road during a heavy monsoon rainfall in Chennai in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. (Photo by ARUN SANKAR/AFP via Getty Images)

By: Shubham Ghosh

The arrival of monsoon in India, the lifeblood of the country’s economy, is likely to be delayed this year and is predicted to hit the southern state of Kerala on June 4, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the state-run weather office on Tuesday (16) said.

Monsoon delivers nearly 70 per cent of the rain that the South Asian nation, one of the fast developing economies in the world, needs to water farmlands and recharge reservoirs. Nearly half of India’s farmland banks on the rains between June and September for a successful agricultural season.

According to the IMD, the onset of the southwest monsoon over Kerala is likely to see a slight delay. The onset over the southern state is likely to be on June 4, with a model error of plus/minus four days, the weather office said.

Rains usually begin in Kerala around June 1 and cover the entire nation by the middle of July. The emergence of the El Nino weather pattern has also raised concerns over the monsoon rains in 2023.

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