Monsoon arrives in Maharashtra, Pune to get light showers till June 17

PUNE: The Met department on Sunday announced the arrival of the much-awaited southwest monsoon in Maharashtra, about four to five days delayed from the normal date.
"Monsoon entered in South of Maharashtra. The northern limit of the monsoon now passes through Ratnagiri, Shimoga, Hassan, Dharmappuri and Shriharikota," said Anupam Kashyapi, the head of the forecast division of the IMD, Pune.
"Conditions are becoming favourable for further advance of southwest monsoon into some more parts of the central Arabian Sea, Karnataka and Maharashtra," he added.

"Conditions will be favourable in the remaining parts of Tamil Nadu, some parts of Andhra Pradesh, west-central Bay of Bengal, northwest Bay of Bengal, parts of northeastern states and some parts of Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim and Bihar during the next 48 hours," he added.
As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast, the city is likely to get very light to light rainfall, with thunder accompanied by lightning till June 17.
"The sky conditions will be cleared in the morning hours. In the afternoon and evening hours, the city may experience cloudy conditions as well as very light to light rainfall for the next few days," said an official from the IMD.
"Konkan, Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara and Pune in the western region of the state are expected to get spells of rainfall in the coming days. Some areas have already received pre-monsoon showers. Even rural Pune, including Baramati, Junnar received pre-monsoon showers in the last fortnight," said a Met official.
On Sunday, Kolhapur and Sangli districts recorded 2 mm of rainfall. No rainfall was recorded in other weather stations in the state, the official added.
"The onset of the monsoon was to take place on June 4 over the Kerala coast. However, it got delayed due to various weather phenomena. The monsoon overset over Kerala took place on June 8-9, and now it is progressing further," another Met official said.
The delay in the arrival of the monsoon has resulted in water shortage in several districts of the state in the last fortnight.
"Pune district has received just 20.4mm of rainfall, as against the normal of 56.6mm till June 11," the official added.
Meanwhile, officials from the district agriculture office said the delayed monsoon arrival has severely hampered sowing as the conditions are not yet favourable for the activity.
"There is no adequate moisture in the soil for sowing. It will be naturally developed after the arrival of the monsoon. As a result, there is a delay in the sowing of Kharif crops in the district, " said a district agriculture official.