The southwest monsoon, crucial for India’s agriculture, has officially arrived in the South Bay of Bengal, the Andaman Sea, and parts of the Nicobar Islands, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The Nicobar Islands have already experienced heavy rainfall, with increasing wind speeds reaching 20 knots at 1.5 km altitude over the Bay of Bengal and surrounding seas over the past two days.
The IMD forecasts that monsoon conditions will soon spread further into the South Arabian Sea, the Maldives, the Comorin region, and most of the South Bay of Bengal. It is also expected to cover the rest of the Andaman Sea and parts of the central Bay of Bengal within the next three to four days. Notably, the monsoon is likely to reach Kerala by May 27—marking the earliest onset in 16 years, compared to the usual date of June 1.
In a related update, a report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre revealed that 5.4 million Indians were displaced in 2024 due to floods, cyclones, and other natural disasters—the highest in 12 years. Assam alone accounted for 2.5 million displacements, while Cyclone Yaas affected over a million people in Odisha and West Bengal. Cyclone Gulab, heavy rains, and landslides also contributed to massive displacement, highlighting the role of climate change, poor reservoir management, and deforestation in worsening these events.
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