The southwest monsoon has not advanced much in the last few days because of lack of speedy winds but the Indian Meteorological Department is sticking to its prediction that it would set in over Kerala on May 30.
“Monsoon has already set in over Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bay of Bengal, but wind speeds have not picked up since last Friday,” said the IMD Thiruvananthapuram director, Mr K. Santhosh. “But conditions are becoming favourable for the onset in Kerala in the next three or four days. We stand by our prediction.”
The IMD director told this newspaper that though Cyclone Laila initially helped the monsoon to advance, winds lagged after rains started in southern Sri Lanka on May 21. There were hopes that since the monsoon reached Andaman and Nicobar Islands by May 17, it would set in early over Kerala, which is the portal through which the rains enter the rest of India. “The IMD never predicted an early monsoon,” said Mr Santhosh. Meteorologists declare the onset of monsoon only if the rainfall is widespread and accompanied by other factors such as a certain amount of moisture in the air.
The country depends heavily on the rains from June to September for its agricultural operations. With prices of essential commodities and food grains shooting up after a failed monsoon last year, the government is counting heavily on a normal rainfall this year.