M A I N   N E W S

Monsoon arrives in Haryana, Punjab a fortnight early
Tribune News Service & PTI

IGI Airport inundated Incessant rain on Sunday led to waterlogging at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, causing inconvenience to passengers who were forced to wade through knee-deep water. Waterlogging also crippled the baggage handling system. The monsoon arrived in Delhi on Sunday a fortnight ahead of schedule, with national capital recording around 36.6 mm rainfall. But the airport witnessed an unprecedented rainfall of 117.8 mm in four-and-a-half hours, between 1 and 5.30 pm

New Delhi, June 16
Monsoon today roared into Delhi and hit Punjab and Haryana almost a fortnight in advance as heavy rains lashed northern India, driving away the heat and spreading cheer among the people. Strong easterlies pushed the monsoon clouds over the national capital with seasonal rains now having covered the entire country almost a month in advance, MeT officials said. "Monsoon reached Delhi today and also covered the entire country," said IMD director Brahm Prakash Yadav. The normal date for the arrival of monsoon in Delhi is June 29.

Monsoon rains, which usually cover the entire country by July 15, had covered two-thirds of the landmass by Friday. "Southwest monsoon has further advanced into the remaining parts of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and (all of) Haryana, Chandigarh... and Punjab," the Met office said. The normal date of arrival of monsoon in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh is between June 29 and July 5. In Punjab, Bathinda received 50-mm rainfall with Mansa (49.2-mm), Patiala (47.4-mm) and Ludhiana (32.6-mm), too, experiencing heavy showers. Chandigarh got 58.5-mm rain. In Haryana, Yamunanagar saw 105-mm rain while Ambala recorded 46.7-mm and Hisar 59.8-mm. Nearly five villages in Yamunanagar district have been flooded in the heavy rains with water levels also rising in Som river and in the Western Yamuna canal. Moderate to heavy rain/thundershowers would occur at many places in Punjab and Haryana over the next couple of days, after which a decrease in rainfall has been predicted.

Besides bringing cheer to the farmers and relief to the people from sizzling heat conditions, the power situation in the two states has also improved in view of the rains that lashed the region during the past few days. In Delhi, traffic snarls were witnessed at several places as people tried to make most of the pleasant weather Most of the roads were waterlogged.