This year’s monsoon has covered 80 per cent of the country now, India Meteorological Department's scientist Dr Naresh Kumar told NDTV on Monday. After covering most parts of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and Haryana on Sunday, the southwest monsoon advanced to Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab on Monday, news agency PTI quoted Kumar in a statement.
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Kumar also predicted extremely heavy rainfall for Chhattisgarh and east Madhya Pradesh due to a low-pressure zone over northwest Odisha which will move in west-northwest direction.
"The impact of low pressure area over Odisha will continue during the next 24 hours. Under its influence, heavy to very heavy rainfall alerts have been issued for several districts across Odisha," Habibur Rahman Biswas, regional director Bhubaneswar MeT Office told PTI.
For the first time in 62 years, monsoon landed in Delhi and Mumbai on the same day. The normal date of monsoon onset for Mumbai is June 11 and for Delhi June 27, but this year, the rain clouds followed an unusual path to cover the country with a lag over several western states.
{{/usCountry}}For the first time in 62 years, monsoon landed in Delhi and Mumbai on the same day. The normal date of monsoon onset for Mumbai is June 11 and for Delhi June 27, but this year, the rain clouds followed an unusual path to cover the country with a lag over several western states.
{{/usCountry}}“The last time the monsoon covered both Delhi and Mumbai at the same time was June 21, 1961. That year, the monsoon covered the remaining parts of the country on the same day,” said an IMD official on Sunday.
Read: Unusual pattern sheds light on how monsoon line takes shape
Several areas in the country are battling flood-like situations after the southwest monsoon brought incessant rainfall in the last few days.
Hundreds of tourists have been stranded in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh after landslides triggered by heavy rain blocked the Chandigarh-Manali national highway (NH-21) since Sunday evening. Authorities closed all schools upto class 10 in Ramban due to a threat of flash floods owing to heavy rainfall.
"Orange alert has been issued for two days in Himachal Pradesh. There will be no relief from the continuous rain. Monsoon rains will continue for the next 4-5 days," Surendra Paul, director at Himachal Pradesh Met Department told PTI.
(With inputs from PTI)