Pune: The southwest monsoon advanced into Pune and other parts of Maharashtra on Monday, almost 12 days after its normal onset date, the India Meteorological Department said.The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a yellow alert for thunderstorms, gusty winds (30-40 kmph) and light to moderate rain in Pune and its ghat areas on Tuesday.“The southwest monsoon further advanced into some more parts of the central Arabian Sea, Maharashtra, Telangana, remaining parts of Karnataka and some parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar on June 22,” the IMD said in a statement.IMD officials said conditions were favourable for further advance of the southwest monsoon into the remaining parts of the central Arabian Sea, and some more parts of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, in the next 48 hours.According to the IMD’s climatological data, monsoon reaches south Konkan (Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri) between June 7 and 8, Kolhapur on June 9, Pune on June 10, Mumbai on June 11 and Ahilyanagar on June 12. It typically enters Marathwada, including Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, by mid-June, covering north Maharashtra and Vidarbha, including Jalgaon and Nagpur, between June 15 and 18.Despite the arrival of monsoon, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC)’s pre-rains preparedness remains incomplete. A PMC official said the administration has completed 85% of the pre-monsoon works before May 31, the deadline.PMC data shows that areas under its jurisdiction have 433 nullahs that are 625km long. In addition, 260 stormwater lines and 58,859 chambers are under the civic jurisdiction. During Sunday’s short but intense spell of rain, several areas witnessed waterlogged streets. On Monday, the city witnessed subdued rainfall activity. The catchments of the dams that provide water to the city also did not receive much rain.An IMD official said a number of weather systems were present across the country. Among them are a trough from Rajasthan to Bihar, an upper air cyclonic circulation over north and adjoining central Bay of Bengal, one that runs from Telangana to Gulf of Mannar, an upper air cyclonic circulation over central Assam and its neighbourhood in the lower tropospheric levels, a western disturbance (seen as a cyclonic circulation) over northwest Punjab in the lower and middle troposphere and a trough from north Gujarat to west central Arabian Sea.The IMD also advised farmers to secure harvested crops, cover produce and provide support to standing crops to minimise damage from rain and strong winds.
