Monsoon advances further into Karnataka, North-Eastern States

New Delhi, May 27 (UNI) The southwest monsoon, advanced further today to most parts of South and North-East India, while a fresh wave of South Easterly winds brought some relief from the sultry weather conditions prevailing in the capital.

A report from Visakhapatnam said the southwest monsoon has advanced into south Arabian Sea and more parts of central Arabian Sea, entire Kerala, parts of Karnataka, Rayalaseema, coastal Andhra Pradesh, central Bay of Bengal and northwest Bay of Bengal.

The northern limit of southwest monsoon inched closer to Goa in the South and Kolkata in the East as it ran through Karwar, Tumkur and Nellore in south India and Agartala, Guwahati and Tezpur in the North-East. It is expected to reach Mumbai by June 2, ahead of normal schedule, a Met official here said.

Entire Kerala, most parts of coastal and south interior Karnataka, some parts of Rayalaseema, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura, some parts of Arunachal Pradesh and Asom and Meghalaya were receiving monsoon rainfall, the IMD said.

Kasargode in Kerala received the highest 17 cm rainfall during the last 24 hours. Cherapunji in the North-East was a close second receiving 16 cm rainfall.

The southwest monsoon had hit the Kerala coast yesterday, six days before its normal onset date of June 1 over the state.

Meanwhile, the South Easterly winds today brought some relief from the sultry weather conditions prevailing in the capital over the past few days even though the humidity levels rose to 50 per cent.

The high speed South Easterly winds, which began blowing in the capital last evening, led to a drop in mercury to 39.6 degree C, one degree below normal, from 41.1 degree C yesterday. The minimum was recorded at 27.4 degree C, one degree below normal.

In Chhattisgarh, a boy was killed and 10 others suffered serious burns as lightning struck yesterday at two places in Bilaspur division, police said today.

Nine-year-old Mukesh Kumar was killed and his younger sister suffered burns as lightning struck a tree, under which they had taken shelter from rain, at village Kesla near Bilha in Bilaspur district.

In Tripura, rainfall affected normal life in the state since yesterday and the local Met office said the capital town received a rainfall of 107.8 mm in the past 24 hours.

Low lying areas of Agartala and elsewhere in the state were waterlogged because of the rains.

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