Monsoon doesn't want to go back

Bhopal: The monsoon of 2019 is not only the heaviest in decades, but also the longest. It is likely to stretch itself a week beyond the usual closure date of September 30.

The Bhopal regional office of Indian Meteorological department on Monday said that monsoon is still active over Madhya Pradesh, more weather systems are developing and this will “result in good rains”.

Senior scientist of IMD’s regional office in Bhopal G D Mishra said, “There is a lot of moisture in the atmosphere. Another system is in the making on the Bay of Bengal, which may develop into a low pressure area and bring rainfall to the state.”

When asked that it’s the fourth week of September, when monsoon is usually on the retreat in most parts of the state, Mishra said, “There is no such possibility in the near future. As of now, it appears that monsoon is going to be active at least till the first week of October.”

In fat, there is another warning issued by IMD for heavy rainfall on Tuesday in 16 districts of Madhya Pradesh. There is a ‘yellow alert’ in the districts of Narsinghpur, Raisen, Vidisha, Guna, Sagar Tikamgarh, Sehore, Chattarpur, Shivpuri, Neemuch, Harda, Rajgarh, Shajapur, Agar, Datia and Dewas. Heavy rainfall may take place at some places till Tuesday morning, the weather office said.

In the last 24 hours, monsoon activity continued in many parts of the state. On Monday, Khargone was among the rainiest, recording 68mm rainfall, followed by Tikamgarh (60), Khajuraho (40), Damoh (29) and Nowgaon (28mm). It rained heavily in Gwalior in the early hours of Monday and the city recorded 102mm of rainfall.

So far, Madhya Pradesh has received 36% surplus rainfall. Except for Sidhi and Shahdol districts, which are rain deficient by 23% and 25%, good rainfall has occurred all across the state. Bhopal has received 1708.6mm rainfall, which is 83% in excess of the average figure in the city.