South-west monsoon gathers pace in Kerala

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Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 1 : After its initial lag, south-west monsoon has climbed a crest in Kerala, with a sustained wet spell in the last 24 hours. The State government had to resort to a 30-minute load-shedding plan during peak hours following the grim power reserves because of weak initial spell of the monsoon.

The current downpour is likely to continue for about five days, according to IMD officials. July’s realisation could make up for the deficit of 40% in the first leg.

Besides El Nino in the equatorial Pacific, IMD is also factoring in sea surface temperatures in the Indian Ocean in its forecast. The forecast is that the southern peninsula could get 98% of its averge rainfall realisation for July.

“It is not the low pressure belt over the Arabian Sea that’s causing the current showers in Kerala. There is a quickening in the eastward winds stirring from the Arabian Sea that’s causing the current spell,” M D Ramachandran, director, Met centre, Thiruvananthapuram told FE. It would need the low pressure belt at the Bay of Bengal to consolidate for sustaining the strength of monsoon in Southern peninsula.

Rains are in the ascending progression from South to North. Kasargod (in North) received the highest rainfall of 18cm, followed by Hosdurg (16cm), Kannur and Manjeri (9cm), Thaliparmaba (6cm), Kozhikode, Perinthalamanna Alapuzha, Kochi and Kottayam (4cm), Mannarkad, Ottapalam, Vaikom, Nilambur, Kanjirapalli, Konni and Thiruvananthapuram (2cm). Since the wind velocity is running in 45 to 50 kms per hour band, fisherman have been alerted in the Arabian Sea.

Officials of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) say that the inflow to the reservoirs has looked up. However, it is lower than the season’s average.

Idukki dam is yet to get its share of the monsoon. The very low level in the Idukki reservoir, that feeds Kerala’s hydroelectric stations, had forced the State to endure loadshedding in the peak hours.

There is as much as 400 MW shortage in power generation because of poor hydel resources.