As Delhi awaits arrival of monsoon, let me take you on a journey with Indian monsoon. We shall go through how it unfolds, the reasons for it and of course, what do the India Meteorological Department (IMD) tracks it.

To start with, not all rainfall is monsoon rainfall. In India, we get both the South-West (SW) and the North-East (NE) monsoon, of which, the SW monsoon, which is June to September, is more important.

Let me tell you why the SW monsoon is so important? It accounts for over 75% of the annual rainfall in most parts of India, outside Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. No wonder, monsoon or वर्षाऋतू as most of us know it is the most awaited weather phenomenon across India. Indian economy is substantially dependent on agriculture, which, in turn, despite scores of irrigation projects – is primarily rain-fed. Farming is very much dependent on the quantum and distribution of rainfall during the SW monsoon season.

As can be seen from this map, the SW monsoon has already covered entire peninsular India, east-central India, east India, north-east India and many parts of north-west India, namely, Hamirpur, Barabanki, Bareilly, Saharanpur, Ambala and Amritsar.

---- to be continued