The Southwest Monsoon is set to arrive early with the Andaman and Nicobar Islands expected to receive first seasonal showers on May 15, the weather office said on Thursday.
An alert has been sounded along the 1000-km long coast of Andhra Pradesh as the Indian Meteorological Department has warned of a cyclonic storm brewing in south-east Bay of Bengal. An IMD bulletin has said the low pressure area in south-east Bay of Bengal had concentrated into a depression and was likely to further intensify into a cyclonic storm.Presently, the system was lying centred over 930 kms east-south east of Chennai and was moving in a north-westerly direction.
The south-west monsoon, the lifeline of many farmers of the country, has set in the south Andaman Sea and the south-east Bay of Bengal a good five days in advance. Weather forecasters have predicted widespread rains over Andaman and Nicobar islands during the next three to four days and further strengthening of westerly winds in the region. India's 235 million farmers rely on the timing of the June-September monsoon season to decide which crops to grow.
The weatherman said when 'Amphan' makes the landfall between West Bengal's Digha, some 180 km from Kolkata, and Hatiya island in Bangladesh on Wednesday afternoon or evening, it will pack sustained wind speed of 155 to 165 kmph, gusting at 185 kmph. The gale-force wind, blowing at a speed of 240 to 250 kmph and gusting to 275 kmph at one point, had lost intensity and was moving at a speed of 200 to 210 kmph, gusting to 230 kmph on Tuesday evening.
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the nation's largest oil firm, has walked away with half of the natural gas that Reliance Industries Ltd and its partner bp of the UK offered in the latest auction of the fuel used to generate power, produce fertilizer, turned into CNG and used for cooking purposes. IOC got 2.5 million standard cubic meters per day out of the 5 mmscmd of gas auctioned last month, sources with knowledge of the matter said. The oil refining and marketing company, which was the top bidder even in the previous auction of gas from the eastern offshore KG-D6 block of Reliance-bp, bid the volumes on behalf of seven fertilizer plants.
The depression over southeast Bay of Bengal in Andaman and Nicobar Islands developed into a deep depression and intensified into a cyclonic storm "Vardah."
The crucial south-west monsoon is expected to bring its first showers to Kerala on June 3, a slight delay that could be attributed to the cyclone activity over the Bay of Bengal. "Southwest monsoon onset over Kerala is likely to be on June 3," said Chief Monsoon Forecaster, India Meteorological Department D Sivananda Pai.
An unspecified number of people were evacuated from coastal areas of Odisha where Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore were likely to experience heavy rainfall accompanied by high-velocity winds, particularly on May 19 and 20, IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said.
While the city received some showers late Wednesday night, it remained almost dry on Thursday.
The southwest monsoon is expected to reach Kerala during the next two to three days, marking a sluggish start to the seasonal rains that are the lifeline of India's agri-based economy.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has directed its rescue teams to ensure that the country's major medical oxygen generation plants based in Odisha and West Bengal are 'running and alive' during Cyclone Yaas that is developing in the Bay of Bengal, a senior officer said.
The cyclone would bring light to moderate rains at most places and 'heavy to very heavy downpour' at some places on November 6.
Moderate to rather heavy rains are likely at many places over all districts of coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on Monday as a low pressure area would form over the Southwest Bay.
Southwest monsoon has furthered advanced into some parts of south Arabian Sea
India received 41 per cent more rainfall than normal from October 1-21 with Uttarakhand alone recording more than five times its normal precipitation, IMD data showed on Thursday.
Chances are any such disruption will not occur on the major shipping lanes but on some edge of the ocean between India and China. Even if there is no actual disruption, the costs of averting one can be punitive. The setting for this is provided by the energy shortage both countries face, says Subhomoy Bhattacharjee.
The location of the landfall is north of Dhamra and south of Bahanaga, close to Bahanaga block, on the coast, around 50 km of Balasore, he said.
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Even as a furious tropical cyclonic storm 'Laila' in the Bay of Bengal was gusting forward, the Andhra Pradesh coast has started experiencing gale winds and heavy rains.
'It is the most prone month for the development of cyclones in the pre-monsoon period.'
The IMD has warned of squally winds speed reaching 45-55 kmph gusting to 65 kmph likely to commence along and off Odisha and north coastal Andhra Pradesh coasts from October 27 onwards.
Southwest monsoon hit Kerala on Friday marking the start of the rainy season, four days after its normal onset date.
The cyclone, according to an IMD report early Sunday, is developing into a severe cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal and can potentially become a very severe cyclonic storm in the next 24 hours, S N Pradhan, the chief of NDRF said in New Delhi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Myanmar is aimed at transforming the arch of Bay of Bengal into the Circle of Southeast Asia, says Anirban Ganguly.
The severe cyclonic storm, which brought in its wake heavy rain coupled with gale wind till early Sunday, uprooted hundreds of trees and snapped cables in Kolkata and in the coastal districts of North and South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore, bring life to a near-halt.
With the fresh fatalities, the total number of people losing their lives in this year's flood and landslides across the state has gone up to 42.
The World Meteorological Organisation/Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific Panel on Tropical Cyclones, at its twenty-seventh session held in 2000 in Muscat, Oman, agreed to assign names to the tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea.
Centre ordered release of Rs 1,086 crore to four states as advance financial assistance for undertaking preventive and relief measures to deal with the cyclone.
Retail tomato prices are ruling at Rs 80 per kg in most cities across India but the rates have shot up to as high as Rs 120 per kg in few southern states because of widespread rains, according to government data. In Chennai, retail price of tomato was at Rs 100 per kg, Puducherry Rs 90 per kg, Bengalure Rs 88 per kg and Hyderabad Rs 65 per kg. In Kerala, retail prices of tomato are ruling at Rs 120 per kg in Kottayam, Rs 110 per kg in Ernakulam, Rs 103 per kg in Tiruvananthapuram, Rs 100 per kg in Palakkad, Rs 97 per kg in Trissure, and Rs 90 per kg in Wayanad and Kozikode.
Heavy rainfall coupled with gusty surface wind is likely to pound some parts of Odisha as the deep depression over west-central Bay of Bengal intensified into a cyclonic storm 'ROANU' on Thursday.
In a record time of 13 years, the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier Vikrant is now ready for formal induction into the Indian Navy.
Low pressure over south-central Maharashtra and south Konkan is likely to move over the Arabian Sea and intensify into a depression in the next 48 hours, the India meteorological department said on Thursday. Under the influence of this cyclonic circulation, heavy rains are expected over the ghat areas of Maharashtra, Konkan and south Gujarat during the next two days, the IMD said.
The world organisation said UN humanitarians and partners were working hard to assist the people of Bangladesh and India suffering from the impact of the cyclone, which made landfall on Wednesday, wreaking havoc, causing high tidal surges, flooding and embankments to collapse.
The trough over the Bay of Bengal, which has caused the torrential downpour in the state, will weaken in next 48 hours.
The Regional Meteorological Centre said fishermen in coastal areas were asked not to venture into the sea.
Earlier, the IMD had predicted light to moderate rainfall accompanied by wind with 40 to 50 kmph in north coastal Odisha under its impact, he said.
The India Meteorological Department said rainfall would be accompanied by gale wind speed reaching 140 to 150 kmph and gusting to 165 kmph along and off Odisha and north Andhra Pradesh coasts.
The depression, which was initially over west-central Bay of Bengal and adjoining areas, moved westward and intensified into a deep depression.
Surplus rain water gushed out of reservoirs while several roads here resembled swollen rivers and four persons were killed in rain related incidents in Tamil Nadu and over 60 houses suffered damage, authorities here said on Monday.
Rain and thundershower are likely to lash many parts of coastal Odisha and some other areas under the impact of the cyclonic storm 'Mahasen', centered about 760 km south of Paradip on Tuesday, the meteorological centre in Bhubaneswar said.
