Monsoon set to enter UP

Lucknow, June 11 (UNI) The Eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh have received welcome showers in the past one week and the skies of central UP are overcast, signalling the arrival of monsoons in the state.

Met department said air mass preceding monsoon had entered the state and if all goes well, the state would witness monsoon showers in the next few days.

Monsoon had already covered half of Bihar till last Wednesday evening.

A low pressure area over Jharkhand was instrumental in pulling up the Bay of Bengal current of monsoon towards Bihar plains. ''If this low pressure area moves towards UP, monsoon would advance fast and we will see rains in couple of days,'' said state Met director RK Verma.

But if the low pressure area recurves from Bihar, then only eastern parts of the state would receive rains. Regarding next 24 hours, Verma predicted that rains and thunder were expected in eastern UP with possibilities of downpour at isolated places in the central parts.

The normal date of arrival of monsoon in UP is June 15 and June 18 in the state capital. It covers entire UP by June 26. This year, if all goes well, monsoon is expected to arrive a week in advance.

UNI NAB SHR KN1744