By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : The south-west monsoon may arrive in Orissa as per schedule by June 10, an official said Thursday.
“We are expecting a normal monsoon. It may arrive in Orissa by June 10,” S.C. Sahu, director of the Bhubaneswar meteorological centre, told IANS.
The monsoon, which reached the Andamans three days ahead of its normal time May 17, has already reached parts of India, including Kerala May 31.
“The cyclonic storm brewing over the Arabian Sea may not cause any delay in the arrival of the monsoon in Orissa,” the official said.
A good monsoon is crucial for Orissa which contributes almost one-tenth of the rice production in India.
Last year, 3,264 villages in 15 of the state’s 30 districts faced drought last year due to erratic rains triggered by poor monsoon.