Monsoon arrives as big relief from heat

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, June 15: Finally, the monsoon has arrived as a big relief to the people reeling under the scorching heat. This year, monsoon arrival was delayed by one day, causing a good rainfall on Wednesday. 

Earlier, it was expected that the monsoon would enter Nepal on June 13 as usual. But due to the delayed activation of the monsoon system this year, its arrival was anticipated to be delayed by a few days, but it arrived on Wednesday. 

The monsoon onset occurred on Wednesday in most parts of Nepal’s Koshi Province, eastern part of Madhes Province, Bagmati Province, and the eastern part of Gandaki Province. 

The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) stated that the monsoon would gradually progress across the country in the coming days.

According to Govinda Jha, a senior meteorologist at the Meteorological Forecast Division under DHM, the DHM declared the onset of the monsoon on Wednesday, but it will take some time to spread throughout the country due to the effect of Cyclone Biparjoy in the Arabian Sea.

“Previously, the monsoon used to spread throughout the country with its onset, but this time it might take a few days to spread due to the effect of the cyclone,” Jha said. Currently, various parts of Koshi Province, the eastern part of Madhes Province, Bagmati Province, and the eastern part of Gandaki Province, including the Kathmandu Valley, are receiving rainfall.

On Wednesday, the Kunchha station in Lamjung recorded the highest rainfall in the last 24 hours until 6:30 PM. It got 106.2 mm rainfall. Similarly, the rainfall in Daman station in Makawanpur was recorded 92 mm, the Dhap Dam AWS station in Kathmandu recorded 76.4 mm of rainfall, the Jinakhu station recorded 69.2 mm, the Borlani station in Makawanpur recorded 63.2 mm, the Bhojpur station in Bhojpur recorded 54 mm, the Jumleti station in Pokhara recorded 50 mm, and the Bajura station in Bajura recorded 59.2 mm in the last 24 hours until 6:30 PM.

However, the DHM earlier predicted less precipitation than average in most parts of the country this year.

Meanwhile, Anil Pokharel, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), presented an estimation that over 1.25 million people will be affected by this year’s monsoon.

Pokharel provided this estimation during a meeting held on Sunday while seeking approval for the Monsoon Preparedness and Response National Action Plan-2080. The action plan was approved during the 18th meeting of the committee, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha, at the NDRRMA.

During the meeting, Pokharel also highlighted additional preparations made by the authority to address monsoon disasters. These preparations include the installation of smart sirens at 34 locations across the country, the acquisition of emergency collective rescue vehicles and ‘A Class’ ambulances, and the provision of at least one ambulance in each of the seven provinces and the Kathmandu Valley.

He also mentioned the ‘Godam’ resource management system (https://godam.gov.np) for information on stored emergency equipment, 

which is available online. A volunteer management system has been established, and a list is available at https://vms.ndrrma.gov, where details of volunteers involved in search and rescue operations can be found. Currently, 1,0422 volunteers have registered with the system.