Southwest monsoon arrives in Odisha; several parts of state witness rainfall

The southwest monsoon officially arrived in Odisha on Thursday, triggering rainfall in several parts of the state, the Meteorological Centre here said.

The onset of the monsoon brought cheers to the farmers as several districts, including Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati and Ganjam experienced rainfall of varied intensity during the day.

"The southwest monsoon has made an onset over Odisha. Several southern districts of the state have so far been covered by the monsoon," H R Biswas, the director of the Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar, told PTI.

The movement of the southwest monsoon is being facilitated to a great extent by a low pressure area formed over east-central Bay of Bengal, Biswas said.

Conditions are now favourable for its further advancement to other parts of the state, another MeT official said, adding that the southwest monsoon is expected to cover the whole of Odisha in a week or so.

The MeT centre has said that most parts of Odisha are likely to experience moderate to heavy rainfall under the impact of the low pressure. The onset of monsoon marks the commencement of the four-month long rainy season.

Pre-monsoon showers had been lashing several parts of Odisha during the last 24 hours, especially in southern and eastern region, including districts such as Ganjam, Koraput, Gajapati, Rayagada, Kandhamal, Khurda, Puri, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur and Balasore.

According to the IMD, a normal monsoon (around 103 per cent of long period average) is expected this year in central India, of which Odisha is a part.

(Photo Credit for representation: PTI)