Monsoon lands in Kerala, isolated heavy rainfall in parts of the state

Thiruvananthapuram: With the monsoon landing in Kerala on Thursday, parts of the state received isolated heavy rainfall with yellow alert being issued in nine districts of the state and orange alert in one.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert for Kozhikode district for the day.

An orange alert means very heavy rains from 6 cm to 20 cm of rain and a yellow alert means heavy rainfall between 6 and 11 cm.

The onset of monsoon in Kerala was announced earlier in the day by the IMD which said it was delayed by a week.

However, experts are of the view that delay in onset of monsoon in Kerala is not a matter of concern as it is not the first time and expressed hope that the rains in the next 2-3 weeks would make up for the deficit at the beginning.

Sekhar Lukose Kuriakose, Member Secretary of the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), said the monsoon has just set in the state and "we have to wait and see how it unfolds".

"It is just the beginning," he said.

"We hope that the rain will catch up and whatever deficit has occurred due to the delay, will be compensated in the next 2-3 weeks," he added.

At the same time, he also said that the first Orange alert, after the monsoon was declared to have arrived in Kerala, was issued for Kozhikode for today.

"Thunderstorm with light to moderate rainfall and gusty wind speed reaching 40 kmph is likely at one or two places in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad and Kannur districts and light rainfall is likely at one or two places in Kasaragod district of Kerala," a KSDMA release said.

Kuriakose further said that while Cyclone 'Biparjoy' in the Arabian Sea may have affected the onset of the monsoon, it would not have much of an impact on its intensity.

"In fact, IMD has forecast higher than usual rainfall in Kerala this monsoon season," he said.

Warnings have been issued since last week in coastal areas asking fishermen not to venture out to sea, he said.

Besides that, warnings related to thunderstorms and lightning were also issued during the day in several districts after the onset of monsoon in Kerala was announced by IMD.