PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Ranchi, June 19: It’s official. The south- west monsoon has set- in over Jharkhand today, after a delay of four days.
The IMD offices in Ranchi and Patna issued special bulletins in the afternoon, declaring the arrival of the four-month season of rains in the state.
The Alipore Regional Meteorological Centre in Kolkata seconded the announcement, saying the monsoon currents reached Jharkhand through Santhal Pargana.
‘The southwest monsoon has set in over Jharkhand today. It covered the districts of Godda, Sahibganj, Pakur and Dumka. It is expected to advance further and cover districts like Deoghar, Jamtara, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Ramgarh, Ranchi, Khunti, East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum, Seraikela- Kharsawan and some parts of Gumla, Hazaribagh and Giridih in the next 24 to 48 hours. The complete onset over the state is expected in another three to four days as conditions are favourable for further advance of monsoon,” said Abhishek Anand, head of Ranchi Meteorological Centre.
The northern limit of monsoon (NLM) was passing through Ratnagiri, Raichur, Kavali, Canning, Sriniketan and Dumka.
Confirming the onset of monsoon over Jharkhand, an official at Alipore Met Centre, said, “The onset of monsoon over Jharkhand was declared this afternoon. Several districts in Santhal Pargana region from where monsoon entered Jharkhand would experience rain coupled with heavy moisture incursion into the atmosphere from the Bay of Bengal.”
He went on to say that due to weak monsoon currents June is likely to witness deficit rain. However, he said a good shower show is expected in July, the second monsoon month.
Usually, monsoon reaches Jharkhand between June 10 and June 15. But it has been delayed for the past few years. In 2019, the southwest monsoon reached Jharkhand on June 21, after a delay of 11 days.
In 2018, the southwest monsoon had reached the Kerala coast three days early on May 29 but it reached Jharkhand on June 25, after a delay of 15 days, as the monsoon currents were weak. In 2017 and in 2016, it was delayed by six days.
Last year monsoon reached Jharkhand in June 18 after a delay of three days.
After its complete onset, the monsoon normally stretches till the first week of October and the average rainfall in Jharkhand during this period is around 1,100mm.
This year, IMD-New Delhi in its long range forecast had predicted monsoon rains close to normal in Jharkhand.
