New Delhi, June 17 -- Conditions were favourable for further advance of the southwest monsoon to parts of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and more areas of Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh over the next two to three days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Monday. The monsoon is likely to be in an active phase with heavy to very heavy rainfall and extremely heavy rain (>20 cm) at isolated places in south peninsular India and Konkan and Goa until June 16. It advanced into the remaining parts of the central Arabian Sea, Konkan, central Maharashtra, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, north Arabian Sea, and Gujarat. The northern limit of the monsoon passed through Veraval, Bhavnagar, Vadodara, Khargone, Amravati, Durg, Bargarh, Chandbali, Sandhead Island, and Balurghat. Conditions became favourable last week for further advancement of the monsoon after a hiatus of a fortnight, mainly due to weaker flow and dry air intrusion from the northwest. IMD director general M Mohapatra said on Friday that a cyclonic circulation was expected to form over the Bay of Bengal this week, and lead to increased rainfall. "Rainfall activity will expand westwards and monsoon will cover nearly the entire country, including all of NW [northwest] India in the week of June 19 and June 25." The monsoon arrived eight days before its normal date in Kerala on June 24. It was the earliest arrival since 2009. The May 24 onset was in line with IMD's prediction and represents the fifth earliest monsoon onset in the last 55 years. The earliest recorded onset was May 18, 1990. The monsoon, which is the lifeblood of India's economy, marks a relief from scorching summer temperatures. According to the agriculture ministry, 51% of India's farmed area, accounting for 40% of production, is rain-fed, making monsoon critical. With 47% of the country's population dependent on agriculture for their livelihood, a bountiful monsoon has a direct correlation with a healthy rural economy....