Monsoon withdrawal likely to begin around September 15: IMD

The southwest monsoon is likely to start withdrawing from northwest India around September 15, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Friday.

The primary rain-bearing system usually makes its onset over Kerala by June 1 and covers the entire country by July 8. It starts retreating from northwest India around September 17 and withdraws completely by October 15.

"Conditions are becoming favourable for the withdrawal of the Southwest Monsoon from some parts of west Rajasthan around September 15," the IMD said in a statement.

This year, the monsoon covered the entire country nine days before the usual date of July 8. This was the earliest the monsoon has covered the entire country since 2020 when it did so by June 26.

It had reached Kerala on May 24, its earliest onset over the Indian mainland since 2009, when it arrived on May 23.

The country has received 836.2 mm of rainfall in the monsoon season so far against a normal of 778.6 mm, a surplus of 7 per cent.

Northwest India has received 720.4 mm, 34 per cent more than the normal of 538.1 mm.

The unusually high rainfall coincided with a series of extreme weather events.

Punjab suffered its worst flooding in decades, with swollen rivers and breached canals inundating thousands of hectares of farmland and displacing lakhs of people.

In the Himalayan states, cloudbursts and flash floods triggered landslides and caused widespread damage. Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand reported washed-out bridges and roads, while Jammu and Kashmir witnessed repeated cloudbursts and landslides.

The IMD attributed the surplus rain to active monsoon conditions supported by frequent western disturbances that enhanced rainfall over the region.

Central India has recorded 978.3 mm of rainfall so far, 11 per cent higher than the normal of 882 mm, while the southern peninsula has gauged 7 per cent more rainfall than the normal of 611 mm. East and northeast India has recorded 949.6 mm of rainfall, 20 per cent below the normal of 1192.6 mm.

In May, the IMD had forecast that India is likely to receive 106 per cent of the long-period average rainfall of 87 cm during the June-September monsoon season.

Rainfall between 96 and 104 per cent of this 50-year average is considered 'normal'.

The monsoon is crucial for India's agriculture sector, which supports the livelihood of around 42 per cent of the population and contributes 18.2 per cent to the GDP.

It also plays a key role in replenishing reservoirs essential for drinking water and power generation.

PTI