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Hopes rise as monsoon advances

P. Sunderarajan and Agencies

Crisis Management Plan in place; Manipur declared drought-hit

New Delhi: Amid fears of a drought, the southwest monsoon on Saturday further advanced into some parts of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and the southern regions of Chhattisgarh and Orissa.

The weatherman has forecast rain or thundershowers in some parts of northwest India, including Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, which are experiencing severe heat-wave conditions.

Even as the Manipur government declared the State drought-hit, the Centre said it had put in place a Crisis Management Plan to deal with the drought the country may face in the wake of the delayed monsoon.

The annual rainfall system is expected to cover some more parts of Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Sikkim in the next three or four days.

Mumbai, which experienced heavy rain on Friday, got some light showers early on Saturday.

Delhi too is likely to receive rainfall over the next two to three days. But “the big question mark is whether it will be monsoon showers. The matter will become clearer by Monday or Tuesday,” says the India Meteorological Department.

The monsoon system has advanced into the entire Vidarbha region, the remaining parts of Telengana and some more parts of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa. The northern limit of the system now passes through Bhuj, Baroda, Indore, Hosangabad, Rajnandgaon, Cuttack, Balasore, Bankura and Gangtok.

Widespread rainfall activity is likely along the west coast during the next two to three days under the influence of an off-shore trough at mean sea level.

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