After nearly a week of sunny days, thick clouds enveloping the evening sky on Monday came as relief to those asking: Where are the monsoon?
However, despite the rainfall, meteorologists expect the monsoon will be declared as having reached southern interior Karnataka on June 7, before the rains intensify on June 9.
Heavy rain lashed Mangaluru on Monday, while areas in south interior Karnataka saw scattered rainfall.
The impending arrival of the monsoon, however, is being termed as ‘delayed’. This is a stark contrast from a week ago, when the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had predicted the onset of monsoon “a few days” earlier than normal in Karnataka.
Depression in Bay of Bengal
While conditions for early onset of monsoon had existed, a series of depressions has halted the progress of the rains, says Ramesh Babu from IMD, Bengaluru. “There is slight postponement owing to the depression in the Bay of Bengal (Cyclone Mora) and Arabian Sea (which saw heavy rains in Oman)...But, there is no reason to panic. We expect to officially declare the monsoon in the next two days,” he said.
Normally, the upper limit of monsoon arrival is June 5. The delay in the advent of the monsoon is not expected to reduce the intensity of the rains which is forecast as being “normal”. “There is a depression in the Bay of Bengal that is moving East. By June 9, this will converge and lead to widespread rains,” said G.S. Srinivas Reddy, Director, Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre.
In anticipation of the monsoon, over 3.5 lakh hectares had been sowed in south Karnataka, said V.R. Reddy, Joint Director of Agriculture. South interior Karnataka had seen good pre-monsoon showers, clocking 36% higher rainfall than normal.
In north Karnataka, farmers have been advised not to sow until monsoon officially descend in the south. “Sowing in the Bombay Karnataka region is slow probably because farmers are waiting for rains. Only around 10% of the targeted area has been sown till now,” said Mr. Reddy.
However, pre-sowing activity is in full swing. Maruti Manpade, State president of Karnataka Pranth Raita Sangha, said kharif sowing normally starts in the second fortnight of June, when short-duration crops such as black gram, green gram and sesame are sown.
“Farmers have not yet started sowing, as they are in fears that the delayed monsoon might spell drought,” Mr. Manpade said.