Bikaner:
After a delay of over a fortnight, the monsoon today entered Rajasthan's Bikaner division, giving respite to people from scorching heat wave conditions, the Meteorological department said.
Rains occurred in parts of Churu, Sikar, Jhunjhunu and Nagaur since early morning today due to the southwest monsoon, state MeT director B N Vishnoi said.
It was a rare direction of entry for the monsoon this time as it normally comes from the northeast of Kota and Udaipur districts. But this year, it struck the northern region of the state in Bikaner, he said.
Vishnoi said the monsoon rains used to start in the second and third week of June. Last year, the monsoon had reached Rajasthan on June 13, he said.
Meanwhile, pre-monsoon rains in the wee hours today brought relief for Jaipur residents. The city recorded 8 mm of rainfall since morning, a MeT report said.
Dantaramgarh recorded a maximum rainfall of 5 cm followed by Bundi, Neemkathana, Machlisar, Jhunjhunu, Deedwana 3 cm each. Rainfall was recorded in the range of 1 to 2.9 cm in many other places in the state.
The monsoon rains have brought joy for the state's farmers as they will now gear up to sow the kharif crop, an official of the agriculture department said.