Chhattisgarh is headed for a week of sustained rainfall starting Saturday, with the India Meteorological Department issuing alerts for heavy rain, thunderstorms, and lightning strikes across several districts. The monsoon has already covered roughly 80 percent of the state and is expected to reach the remaining districts within three to four days.

IMD satellite imagery shows cloud activity intensifying across the state, with dense cloud cover building over Surguja, Balrampur, and Jashpur in the north, and active systems continuing over the southern reaches of Bastar division. Central districts including Raipur, Durg, Dhamtari, and Mahasamund currently have patchy cloud cover, with light to moderate rain likely in parts. Bilaspur remains comparatively drier for now.

More than 18 districts have already received the monsoon — including Raipur, Durg, Dhamtari, Gariaband, Mahasamund, Balodabazar, Kabirdham, Rajnandgaon, Kondagaon, Bastar, Dantewada, Sukma, and Bijapur. Districts still awaiting official monsoon arrival include Surguja, Surajpur, Balrampur, Korea, Jashpur, Korba, Bilaspur, Mungeli, Janjgir-Champa, Sakti, Raigarh, and several others. Pre-monsoon showers are being reported across these areas, but IMD has not yet made a formal announcement of monsoon onset there. That declaration could come within the next 48 hours.

In Raipur, Saturday is expected to bring thundershowers, with maximum temperatures around 37°C and minimums near 25°C. Bilaspur recorded the state's highest temperature in the past 24 hours at 39.1°C, while Pendra Road logged the lowest minimum at 23.8°C.

Despite the incoming rain, the season so far has been a cause for concern. Rainfall deficits across much of the state remain severe. Rajnandgaon is in the worst position — recording only 8.3 mm against a normal of 100.3 mm, a deficit of 92 percent. Mohla-Manpur-Chowki is close behind at 95 percent below normal. Balodabazar and Sarangarh-Bilaigarh are both running 83 percent short, and Sakti is also at 83 percent deficit.

Even Bastar, where the monsoon arrived first, is significantly behind. Bastar district has received 74.8 mm against a normal of 142.7 mm — 48 percent less. Dantewada and Sukma are each around 54 percent below their seasonal average.

Central Chhattisgarh tells a starker story. Raipur has received just 25.3 mm against a normal of 90.1 mm — 72 percent less. Mahasamund has managed only 20.7 mm, and Balodabazar a mere 14 mm.

The next ten days are being watched closely for the kharif season. A delayed and weak monsoon start has left fields across most districts without adequate soil moisture for sowing. Farmers are waiting on the rains before beginning paddy transplantation and other kharif crop activities — and the window for timely sowing is narrowing.