NEW DELHI - The worst monsoon to hit Mumbai for years will go into a lull for a few days next week, after a peak brought on catastrophic floods that have killed over 1,000 people.
The Times of India reported the country's meteorological department saying that the monsoon moved to Gujarat on Wednesday, with the northwest of the country expected to be wet over the next few days, while rains in central India decrease.
Despite the torrential downpour in the past week, August will likely end with a national deficit of 10 per cent or more, due to the prolonged break in monsoon for the first three weeks, the paper reported.
Both central and northwest India have had below-normal rainfall in August.
The Times of India said the heavy showers that wreaked havoc on Mumbai was in fact anticipated by meteorologists in advance.
The India Meteorological Department first made forecasts of heavy rain in Mumbai on August 23. "Within 24 hours of the initial forecast, chatter around the event had begun on social media forums used by meteorologists," A K Sahai, head of India meteorological department's climate research and services division told the paper.
The met service's website issued red alert warnings over the next few days.
Floods caused by the record rainfall on Tuesday destroyed homes and halted train and flight services. More than 1,200 people have died across India, Bangladesh and Nepal in the worst flooding to hit South Asia in years.
