Surat: Seven days after the southwest monsoon entered Gujarat, large parts of the state are still waiting for its further advance as of July 1. While the monsoon normally reaches Gujarat around June 15, it arrived in South Gujarat only on June 24 this year, about nine days later than usual. Since then, its progress has remained stalled.

According to the latest bulletin issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Northern Limit of the Monsoon currently passes through Surat, Indore, Sagar, Sidhi, Azamgarh, Ayodhya, Bareilly, Dehradun and Mandi.

So far, the monsoon has covered Valsad, Dang, Navsari, Surat, Tapi and parts of Narmada district. As a result, all the districts of Saurashtra-Kutch, North Gujarat and Central Gujarat are yet to come under the monsoon.

Meanwhile, rainfall activity has picked up across the state and is set to intensify this week, with a heavy rain warning issued for South Gujarat.

The IMD has said that conditions are favourable for the further advance of the southwest monsoon into some more parts of the North Arabian Sea, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, the entire Daman & Diu region, the remaining parts of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh, the entire Jammu & Kashmir region, most parts of Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Punjab, and some parts of Rajasthan during the next two to three days.

Due to the delayed arrival of the monsoon, Gujarat has recorded one of the highest rainfall deficits in the country. The state received just 20.5 mm of rainfall against the normal 110.8 mm by June 30, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), marking an 82% deficit.

However, with rain activity forecast across several parts of the state, the IMD expects the monsoon to spread further into North and Central Gujarat over the coming days. Farmers and residents are now looking forward to widespread rainfall, which is crucial for the ongoing kharif sowing season. DeshGujarat