The monsoon rains have begun showing a decreasing trend over the major parts of northwest and north India in tune with the natural cycle in the second half of the Hindu calendar month Bhadrapada. The south-west monsoon, as per its usual course, is slated to become the north-east monsoon by the middle of September or around the beginning of the Hindu month Asvina.
As the axis of the monsoon trough at mean sea level remained close to the foothills of the Himalayas for over a week, it aggravated the flood situation in Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand and northeastern India. The flood situation in Bihar took a serious turn due to damage done to embankment of the transboundary river Kosi.
The government needs to deal with flood and drought prevention and management on a war footing. The country usually enjoys bountiful rains in the monsoon season, but its distribution remains erratic, leading to huge economic loss. In most of July this year, Gujarat, Maharshtra and the southern peninsula was left dry and the situation improved towards the end of the month. This situation affected sowing and the standing crops.
According to the latest report of the National Disaster Management Division of the government, the damages caused to crops, livestock and property due to floods across the country in the current monsoon season have aggregated to Rs 1,88,565.37 lakh.
There is a need to deploy the latest scientific technologies to deal with such emerging situations. India must take a cue from China. China undertakes cloud seeding projects to prevent the possibility of droughts in the crucial agriculture season. China has also demonstrated its capability to disperse rain clouds to prevent excess rains and floods. During the Beijing Olympics on August 9 a volley of rockets were fired in the air to ward off rain clouds, which otherwise could have been a spoilsport.
In the week ended September 3, Bihar, Sikkim, West Bengal, northeastern India, Maharasthra and Karnataka (with the exception of its coastal regions), Rayalseema, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep received god rains, while rest of the country was dry.
However, the average cumulative rainfall over the country since June 1, 2008 has been 721.4 mm, just 3% below the normal range. There was excess to normal rainfall in 29 out of 36 meteorological subdivisions, while it was deficient in only 7. The seven unfortunate meteorological subdivisions are western Madhya Pradesh, Saurashtra & Kutch, Marathwada, Vidarbha, coastal Karnataka, Kerala and parts of northeastern India comprising of Nagaland,
Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.
The US-based Center for Ocean Land Atmosphere Studies (COLA) said that there would be good rains over peninsular India, West Bengal and northeastern India till September 13.