Monsoon breaks over north-west India: Rains let up in Kerala

New Delhi, Jun 26 (UNI) Monsoon broke over most parts of north-west India three days ahead of schedule as several areas in the region experienced rain since last night.

Southwest monsoon has advanced into some more parts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, remaining parts of Uttarakhand, entire Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and northern parts of Western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh, according to the Weather Office.

All mid and lower hills of Himachal Pradesh experienced widespread rains during the last 24 hrs.

One person was killed and property worth lakhs of rupees damaged due to cloudburst and heavy rain in north Kashmir's Bandipora district last night.

Police said a building of the government primary school and two residential houses were damaged due to heavy rain and overflow of power canal at Haknar Gund in the district. The crop in Haknar area has also been damaged in rains.

A low pressure formed over Bay of Bengal off the Orissa coast is likely to intensify further into a depression by tomorrow.

Local Cyclone Warning Centre (CWC) Director V L Prasad told UNI that under its influence, rains will occur at many places over coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Kerala, however, heaved a sigh of relief as the South West monsoon lessened its fury after claiming 61 lives in the past one week.

With the waters receding from low lying areas in Kerala, people were moving out of the relief camps. No deaths were reported today and property loss was also minimal.

However, hot and humid weather persisted in the north-west region although the mercury hovered below 36 degree Celsius in the plains of Punjab and Haryana following rainfall.

In Punjab, moderate rain lashed certain areas, including Ludhiana, which kept the mercury low. The temperatures also stayed low in Haryana following downpour.

The hot and humid conditions over the last four days, which left Delhiites sweltering, abated today with an overcast sky and Easterly winds bringing about a pleasantness in the weather. According to the Indian Meteorological Department, the Monsoon could hit the Capital by this weekend.

''The monsoon is also likely to arrive over Delhi by this weekend due to the formation of a low pressure area over Northwest Bay of Bengal off Orissa coast this morning,''the IMD said in a release.

In Karnataka, life returned to normal in Dakshina Kannada and northern districts of Bijapur, Gulbarga, Bagalkot and Belgaum after the monsoon fury that claimed about 43 lives during the last four days.

However, the water level in majority of rivers, which threatened to cross the danger marks, had receded and the flooding water over the low lying areas had been drained out.

In view of the possible oil spill from the capsized South African ship, 'M V Den Den' near Mangalore, the New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) officials, police and fire services have taken up precautionary measures to avert pollution of the sea.

Due to the advancement of south-west monsoon into Arabian Sea, and the entire Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, the Met department has forecast spells of rainfall or thundershowers to hit parts of the city and suburbs in the next 24 hours accompanied by strong gusty winds with possibilities of heavy rain in some areas.

Barmer district administration has also sounded an alert following warning by the meteorological department of heavy pre-monsoon showers in the desert district.

While the weather in and around Kolkata continued to remain cool and pleasant though mercury jumped a bit as compared to yesterday, Patna and its adjoining areas bore the brunt of yet another hot day with no possibility of immediate showers.

UNI