Guwahati: The India Meteorological Department on Monday warned of active monsoon conditions across the northeast for four to five days.The forecast raised concerns of a worsening flood situation, with the region receiving heavy to extremely heavy rain in the past 24 hours. Guwahati recorded 137.8 mm rainfall on Monday, its third-highest July rain since 1951, according to IMD records. Landslides continued to disrupt connectivity in parts of Assam.Between 8.30 am Sunday and 8.30 am Monday, Meghalaya recorded extremely heavy rain of 21 cm or more, triggering flooding in the foothills of lower Assam, especially around Guwahati and its periphery. Nagaland received very heavy rain of 12-20 cm, leading to severe flooding in the neighbouring Assam districts of Sivasagar, Charaideo and Jorhat. Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura also reported very heavy rain, while Arunachal Pradesh recorded heavy rainfall of 7-11 cm.“Monsoon is very much active in the northeast,” said KN Mohan, a senior scientist at IMD. He added that since the El Nino factor is associated with the monsoon season this year, it was expected that the northeastern region would receive more rain, while several other parts of the country have been facing deficit rain.“During El Nino, in general, NE India receives more rain than normal. El Nino years are stronger in the northeast as per old records. During El Nino there will be normal to very heavy rainfall in the northeast and deficient rainfall in mainland India. This is a fundamental phenomenon known for years,” Mohan explained, adding that the heavy downpour that flooded upper Assam districts is only due to the active monsoon.The IMD predicted isolated heavy rain over Arunachal on Tuesday and again during July 25-26. Assam and Meghalaya are likely to receive isolated heavy rain from July 22 to 26, while Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura may see similar conditions from July 22 to 24. Isolated very heavy rain is likely over Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura on Tuesday.Meghalaya has been put on orange alert for Tuesday, while the remaining six northeastern states are under yellow alert.
