The Hindu : National : Good and bad news on the monsoon front

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Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005

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National

Good and bad news on the monsoon front

Special Correspondent

More rainfall likely for Karnataka; mercury to soar in North India

NEW DELHI: There is some good news and, at the same time, some bad news on the monsoon and temperature fronts. The good news first: rainfall is expected to increase in the interior parts of the southern Peninsula. The bad news is that the temperatures could rise further in North India, though there could be some reduction in humidity.

According to senior officials at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast (NCMRWF), in a major positive development for the peninsular region, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal arms of the monsoon, which had so far remained disjoined, seemed to be finally linking up in the southern parts of the country.

As a result, the monsoon activity, which had so far been largely confined to the coastal areas, is likely to extend to the interior parts of the southern Peninsula. Karnataka would be a major beneficiary. So far, the rain had been mainly confined to the coastal and south interior Karnataka. Now, it would get extended to north interior Karnataka also. Already, rain had started in the region and it is likely to intensify in the coming days.

The development is of significance as many reservoirs in the State are presently almost bone-dry. According to data available as on June 17, of the major reservoirs in the State, only six — Narayanapur, Supa, Vanivilas Sagar, Bhadra, Malaprabha and Ghataprabha — had any live storage. Krishnaraja Sagar, Kabini, Hemavathy, Harangi, and Alamatti, which are also sources of water for Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, on the other hand, had no live storage whatsoever. As regards north India, the experts said the temperatures are likely to go up in the coming days in the region, as there was yet no sign of the formation of a low-pressure area over the northern parts of Bay of Bengal, essential for driving the monsoon currents towards the region.

The experts said that following the resurgence of the monsoon in recent days, the deficiency at the national level has come down from 59 per cent on June 15 to 53 per cent on Monday and the expectation was that it could go down further to about 30 per cent by the end of the month.

Respite from heat wave

AFP, UNI report:

The monsoon reached more parts of western and eastern India on Tuesday bringing respite from heat wave.

"The monsoon has already reached West Bengal and it will be a day or two before it covers Bihar," Weather Department spokesman J.K. Sharma said, adding that northern and central India will have to wait 10 more days for the rains.

Since early June heat wave has claimed 218 deaths — 23 in West Bengal, 82 in Orissa,79 in Uttar Pradesh and 22 in Bihar. Heavy rains have been reported from parts of the north-eastern States.

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