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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Drought fear looms large as country gets deficient rain

Drought fear looms large as country gets deficient rain

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published Published on Jun 24, 2014   modified Modified on Jun 24, 2014
-Mail Today
 

 

India is staring at the spectre of a possible drought as the progress of the monsoon has been abysmally slow, with authorities saying cumulative rainfall across the country has been 45 per cent below the average for this period. Reason: the El Nino effect is adversely affecting this year's monsoon, say weather experts.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD), in its latest report, has highlighted the weak and delayed onset of the monsoon. An analysis for the period from June 1-18 showed that rainfall has been deficient across the country.

 

The cumulative rainfall across the country has so far been 45 per cent below the Long Period Average (LPA) for 1951-2000. More worryingly, rainfall was 53 per cent below the average in northwest India.

In central India-which includes Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Goa and Orissa-only 31.7 mm rainfall has been recorded so far this month, which is 52 per cent below the LPA. The normal level of rain for this region is 66.2 mm.

A further breakdown of rain data recorded in different meteorological subdivisions shows that normal rainfall has been recorded in only seven of the 36 regions. It has been deficient in 18 and scanty in 10 subdivisions. Only one subdivision reported excess rain.

The country received around 43 NEWS SPECIAL REPORT mm of rainfall, which is much below the normal level of 78 mm. The IMD report on the progress of the monsoon is not good news for the government, which is struggling to rein in galloping inflation.

The weatherman's last monsoon update had pegged the rainfall as 93 per cent of the average, and even that was enough to give a headache to economic planners.

With oil prices rising because of the crisis in Iraq, the government cannot afford a completely failed monsoon. The month of June, when the monsoon should have gathered pace to cover many parts of the country, has seen scanty rainfall and experts are hoping that the deficiency will be wiped out in the remaining three months of the season.

Apart from central India, the northwestern region has suffered enormously, receiving only 13.6 mm of rainfall, way below the normal level of 28.7 mm.

Even the southern states have received only 64 mm, down from the 87.6 mm that is normal for the region. The period between June 12 and 18 was particularly bad, with the entire country reporting deficient or scanty rain across the board. Not only has the rainfall been deficient, the progress of the monsoon has been slow. It is still to reach places in central Madhya Pradesh and Saurashtra, where it should have entered by now. Eastern India fared comparatively better but deficiency in the southern peninsula and central India has set alarm bells ringing.

According to the IMD report, a low pressure area has built over the Gangetic West Bengal and its neighbourhood, extending up to 5.8 km above mean sea level. The cyclonic storm "Naunak" in the Arabian Sea, which was considered to be bad for the monsoon, has moved northwestwards into a depression, weakening into a low pressure area.

The IMD's forecast for next week is that most parts of the country will receive scattered and isolated rains. West Rajasthan will remain mainly dry while most of the northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura can expect widespread rain. Western Uttar Pradesh and Delhi will receive isolated and scattered rainfall.

According to IMD's classification, isolated rainfall is less than 25 per cent of precipitation while scattered is 26 to 50 per cent of rainfall. In the southern peninsula, only coastal Karnataka is expected to receive widespread (more than 75 per cent) rains. The weak monsoon has been reported at a time when the government is in the process of preparing its first budget. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already promised tough measures. With many parts of the country facing prospects of drought, an early respite from inflation is not in sight.

During his recent address to a joint sitting of Parliament to outline the new government's plans and policies, President Pranab Mukherjee had said the administration was alert to the "possibility of a subnormal monsoon" and was preparing contingency plans. Unseasonal and intermittent rains from February to April have damaged rabi crops, especially wheat, and a below normal monsoon is bound to affect kharif crops, particularly rice.

 


Mail Today, 23 June, 2014, http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/drought-fear-looms-large-as-country-gets-deficient-rain/1/368096.html


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