The southwest monsoon is on track to withdraw from Pune and other parts of the state over the next two days. Anupam Kashyapi, the head of weather forecasting at the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), announced that the withdrawal process from north Maharashtra is expected to commence today.
Despite a delayed onset, the withdrawal of the monsoon over Maharashtra and Pune has also been postponed, largely due to consecutive low-pressure systems in the Bay of Bengal that brought rain to the city and district in recent days.
The delayed withdrawal has unexpectedly proven beneficial, given the lower-than-anticipated rainfall that the country, state, and city experienced during the monsoon. Currently, conditions are favorable for monsoon withdrawal, with the process already underway in Rajasthan, Gujarat, and other parts of Northwest India.
Kashyapi said the monsoon would start withdrawing from the north Maharashtra Thursday onwards. Similarly Marathwada, Vidharbha would see withdrawal in the next 2-3 days and the monsoon would bid adieu to Pune and Mumbai in the next 48-72 hours. On the whole, Maharashtra would see monsoon withdrawal by October 10-11.
The southwest monsoon has concluded with a 6 per cent deficit, with three of the 36 meteorological subdivisions receiving excess rainfall. Seven subdivisions experienced deficits, while other parts of the country received normal rainfall.