Pratik Parija, Bloomberg
New Delhi: India’s monsoon, which accounts for four-fifths of the nation’s annual rainfall, has covered Andaman Sea and advanced over the Bay of Bengal, signaling its on course to reach the country’s southern coastline in three days.
Rains may fall over the nation’s southern most Kerala state by 24 May, the India Meteorological Department said 14 May. The normal onset date of the rains is 1 June.
“As of yesterday, there was no change in our forecast,” B.P. Yadav, a director at the weather office in New Delhi, said today by telephone.
The timing of the monsoon season is crucial for India’s 234 million farmers and their crops of rice, soybeans, peanuts and lentils. Farm output accounts for about a fifth of the nation’s $854 billion (Rs34,68,865 crore) economy. The season runs from 1 June to 30 September.
Rains in the four-month rainy season will be 95% of the average reported between 1941 and 1990, a level considered normal, the weather office said 19 April.