IT'S HERE: The scene in Patna on Thursday soon after the city had the first shower of the monsoon. NEW DELHI: There is some good news for Delhi and surrounding areas. The India Meteorological Department on Thursday announced that the monsoon could arrive over the Capital and other parts of North-West India well ahead of the normal date of June 29. Speaking to The Hindu, senior IMD officials said there was a very high possibility of the monsoon arriving over Delhi within the next five days. But the IMD, they said, was not announcing this officially since there was still a small possibility of the monsoon taking a couple of days more. ''We would rather prefer to be cautious in making official pronouncements,' they quipped. Meanwhile, the monsoon, progressing rapidly after setting over Kerala on May 31, has already covered large parts of the country. On Thursday, its northern limit was at 23 degrees north latitude, passing through Okha, Rajkot and Surat in the West to Allahabad and Gorakhpur in the East. An IMD release said the advance of the monsoon this year had been much smoother and rapid compared to last year when it was faced with a gap of about one week over the southern peninsula. Consequently the rainfall so far has been very good and well distributed as compared to last year. Of the 36 meteorological sub-divisions across the country, 30 have received normal/excess rainfall this year compared to only 13 last year. The country as a whole has received 30 per cent more rainfall than normal, as against a deficit of 28 p.c. for the same period last year.