South-west monsoon expected to gain momentum in drought-hit Maharashtra

Mumbai: After making a slow progress, the southwest monsoon is expected to gain momentum and advance further into several parts of drought-hit Maharashtra and central India.

The Meteorological Department said that conditions are favourable for the monsoon to advance into entire Konkan and Goa, drought-hit central Maharashtra, Marathwada, remaining parts of north interior Karnataka, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and parts of Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.

The weatherman has forecast an above normal monsoon this year.

However, its onset over Kerala, which marks the commencement of the rainy season in the country, was on June 8, seven days later than predicted.

Also, it made a slow progress due to lack of a favourable system that could have given it a boost to move forward.

The slow pace had increased the rain deficiency to 25 per cent. It is expected to make its way to Delhi in the first week of July.