“Southwest monsoon has set in over most parts of Kerala and some parts of Tamil Nadu. Conditions are favorable for further advance to coastal and south interior Karnataka during the next 48 hours,” the Met department said in a statement here Monday.

Due to a storm brewing in the Arabian Sea, the progression of the monsoon is expected to be along the western coast and interior parts of the peninsula would get rains later.

Rainfall occurred at many places over Kerala, Lakshadweep, coastal and south interior Karnataka while isolated rainfall occurred in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and north interior Karnataka.

Rain or thundershowers are forecast for these places on Tuesday besides isolated rain or thundershowers.

“There is a depression in the Arabian Sea which could develop into a cyclone and affect the progression of monsoon in the interior parts,” Ajit Tyagi, director general of the India Meteorological Department, said in New Delhi.

According to weather analysts, the depression which may develop into a cyclone could hit parts of coastal Gujarat and Karachi as per current analysis.

There was a 23 percent deficit in rainfall last during the June-September season last year despite its arrival a week ahead of the usual date but they expect normal rainfall this year that could bring down inflation.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had earlier forecast that the monsoon would hit the Kerala coast on May 26 after the monsoon clouds set in over the Andaman Seas last week.

Meanwhile, at least 17 people were killed in northern India when a fierce rainstorm lashed the region, officials said Monday.

Winds whipped through villages at 90 km during Sunday's storm, and most of those killed in Uttar Pradesh state were trapped under collapsed roofs or crushed by uprooted trees, said Surendra Srivastava, a police spokesman in Lucknow, the state capital.

Heavy rains and winds hammered several parts of the state for more than an hour, according to G.K. Gupta, a local meteorological official.

Trees and electricity poles blown down halted rail and road traffic for several hours. Train services were restored by early Monday, railway official Manoj Mishra said.

— With input from agencies