By Litha Achari
INDORE: The South-West monsoon arrived in Indore along with other districts of the state on Sunday. The meteorological department declared the advancement of South West monsoon over all remaining parts of Madhya Pradesh on Sunday afternoon.
As per weather forecast by the IMD Bhopal circle, Indore along with other neighbouring parts including Burhanpur, Khandwa, Khargone, Barwani, Alirajpur, Jhabua, Dhar, Ratlam, Ujjain, Dewas, Shajapur, Agar-Malwa, Mandsaur and Neemuch, which are likely to witness light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunderstorm and lightning on June 26 and 27.
The IMD has issued red alert for Ratlam, Ujjain, Dewas, Shajapur, Agar Malwa, Mandsaur and Neemuch, which are likely to witness extremely heavy very heavy to rainfall coupled with thunderstorms and lightning on June 28.
In case of Indore, this year monsoon onset is five days delayed as the official date on monsoon onset in Indore is June 20. This comes a day after the city received 67.4 mm rainfall in 24 hours.
As per the set criteria of the IMD, monsoon onset is declared over a region mainly by the wind direction which needs to be westerly and the district or city should record two days of continuous showers.
The city on Sunday recorded the lowest maximum temperature this year from the month of April to June with mercury dropping down to 29.0 degree Celsius which was 5 degree below normal. The minimum temperature in Indore was recorded as 22.0 degree Celsius which was a degree below normal.
Indore woke up to overcast skies which enveloped the city throughout the day along with drizzling in many parts of the city. As the weather became pleasant, Indoreans flocked the nearby picnic spots and popular eateries.
As the monsoon arrived in the city, Indoreans have started gearing up for the much awaited rainy season purchasing umbrellas and raincoats. While the first heavy rainfall on Friday night has raised the concerns of the denizens as many parts witnessed water logging issues while many roads have pots holes which get filled with water during rains leading to accidents.
“The roads become extremely dangerous during rains. Recently I have noticed many places where pits dug for underground pipeline work are left open which become dangerous during rains. Such tasks should have been completed before the rainy season,” said Toshi Shrivastava, a resident of Tilak Nagar.
Meanwhile the rainy season has brought another trouble for the people as the vegetable prices in the city soared due to heavy rainfall in the areas like Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat. “Tomatoes that were Rs 40 per kg 15 days back are now Rs.100-120 per kg. The other vegetables have also become pricey. Tomatoes are definitely out of salad plate till the prices drop down,” said Shakuntala Haridas, a homemaker from the city.
