Monsoon covers Delhi, Mumbai together

New Delhi/Mumbai: In a rare event, the monsoon on Sunday covered both Delhi and Mumbai together.

While it hit the national capital two days earlier than schedule, its entry into the financial capital is two weeks late, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

"The Southwest Monsoon has advanced over Mumbai and Delhi today (June 25)," an IMD official said.

The monsoon, which had a slow start, has now made swift progress, covering numerous regions, including some parts of Maharashtra, entire Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, northeast India, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, east Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, most parts of Himachal Pradesh, and some parts of Haryana, according to an IMD official.

Normally, the rain-bearing system reaches Kerala by June 1, Mumbai by June 11, and the national capital by June 27.

Although the monsoon has covered a significant portion of north India, including Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and a large part of Jammu and Kashmir, on schedule or slightly ahead, it is currently running 10-12 days behind schedule for a considerable part of central India, where a significant number of farmers heavily rely on it.

D S Pai, a senior scientist at the IMD, explained that Cyclone Biparjoy had impacted the monsoon's progress over southern India and the adjoining western and central parts of the country.

He said, "Since the system absorbed most of the moisture, the monsoon's progress along the west coast was slow."

However, the Bay of Bengal branch of the monsoon, responsible for bringing rains to northeast and east India, remained stronger between June 11 and June 23.

Pai attributed this to a low-pressure system that formed over the Bay of Bengal in mid-June and the remnants of cyclone Biparjoy, which aided the monsoon's advancement over east India.

Pai noted that the Arabian Sea branch of the monsoon is now gaining strength with a low-pressure system developing over the Bay of Bengal.

"The monsoon may cover entire Maharashtra and some parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan on Sunday," added the senior meteorologist.

He said that it represents a new pulse of the monsoon, and rapid progress is expected.