Monsoon is knocking on the doors of Bihar, promising residents relief from the tortuous sultry weather triggered by abnormally high humidity.

The news of monsoon probably hitting the state by Monday carried different implications — from the ecstasy of children enjoying their summer vacation to the promise of relief it held for the sweat-soaked citizen to the chance of resurgence of viruses as the sun plays hide-and-seek over the next few months.

“I hope rains arrive at the earliest, as it has become unbearably humid over the past few days. We can tolerate high temperature but the high humidity level is really annoying,” said Ravi Kumar, a resident of SK Nagar. Met scientists attributed the hazy skies over the past few days to the high moisture content in the troposphere.

Finding hard to conceal his glee, 12-year-old Kidwaipuri resident Anshul said: “Our school is closed for summer vacation, but the humidity has proved to be a spoiler. My mother does not allow me to go outside in the afternoon scorching heat. I am waiting for monsoon to help me enjoy the way I want to.”

Anshul’s mother Avantika Singh (38) could not agree with her son. “Waterlogging in monsoon makes it difficult for me to step out. Every year, PMC officials claim they have foolproof plans for monsoon, but they inevitably fail,” said Avantika.

Asked about the Patna Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) measures to combat monsoon, its additional municipal commissioner Shashank Shekhar Sinha said: “PMC is fully prepared for monsoon. De-clogging of big and small drains is complete. We have also covered many open drains apart from speeding up the process of garbage collection in the city. We are optimistic that Patna would not face serious waterlogging this time.”

Sounding a note of caution, V.P. Sinha, a physician at Patna Medical College and Hospital, told The Telegraph: “Viral fever is very common in the run-up to monsoon. The fever usually persists for five to six days but is accompanied by sore throat, acute body ache, headache and vomiting. All these make patients restless. But the condition can prolong in the absence of sunlight, which helps kill many types of viruses and bacteria with its anti-microbial property. So anybody who catches fever in this season should immediately consult a doctor.” He added that dengue, chikungunya and typhoid are also common apart from cough and cold.

After entering Bengal on Saturday, southwest monsoon is set to enter the state through Katihar, Purnea and Kishanganj districts by Monday. Earlier this week, meteorological scientists had claimed that monsoon would hit Bihar by June 10, three days before its normal date of arrival. On Sunday, as rain-bearing monsoon clouds from sub-Himalayan Bengal approached the north-eastern parts of the state, they reiterated their claims.

Ashish Sen, director, India Meteorological Department (IMD), Patna, told The Telegraph on Sunday: “The northern limit of monsoon (NLM) is passing through Veraval, Surat, Jalgoan, Amraoti, Chandrapur, Jagdalpur, Puri, Calcutta, Jalpaiguri and Gangtok. Moving in the north-western direction, it is expected to pass through Jharkhand and Bihar within the next 48 hours.” Sen claimed that cross-equatorial flow of winds from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere had been continuous over the past six days, which is favourable for north-western movement of the NLM.

“The extreme northern tip of the NLM has hit sub-Himalayan Bengal and it is very close to north-eastern parts of Bihar. Moving further, it is expected to enter Katihar, Purnea and Kishanganj districts by Monday,” said Sen.