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This is an archive article published on August 26, 2002
Finally, it146;s raining some good news
For once, dry statistics held out some hope: after what was said to be the driest July in a hundred years, after six weeks of deficient rain...
Written by SONU JAIN
New Delhi | August 26, 2002 12:00 AM IST
2 min read
2 min read
For once, dry statistics held out some hope: after what was said to be the driest July in a hundred years, after six weeks of deficient rainfall, the good news of the week ending August 19 could be summed up in two words: excess rain. In fact, statistics now indicate that it may not be the worst drought of the century after all. Rainfall deficit figures improved from an all-time low of -30 in the last week of June to the more respectable -23 at the end of this week. In 1997, the deficit had been -24 in mid-July.
Seventeen out of 36 met stations have normal to excess rain, 18 have deficient rain and only one is scanty. By the end of the monsoon, the India Meteorological Department IMD predicts that only Rajasthan, Saurashtra and Kutch will have reason to worry. 8216;8216;This is because the low pressure is too far away to bring rain to western Rajasthan,8217;8217; said H R Hatwar, IMD director.
Reservoirs swelled up by 7 from the end of July. Paddy was planted all over Central and Northern India8212;while Haryana still has to cover three lakh hectares to reach the normal planting levels, Uttar Pradesh has reduced the deficit by nearly 10 lakh hectares. Though the loss to coarse grains, oilseeds and paddy is irreversible, experts say this spell of rain will ease the pressure for the rabi crop.
Apart from the trend spotted this year, of bad rains in July and a revival in August, the IMD has also noticed a correlation with El Nino8212;the phenomenon of warm ocean currents off the shores of Peru in South America. After a brief revival from February, El Nino started receding from June. 8216;8216;We are yet to determine if this was the only reason for the trend spotted in India,8217;8217; said Hatwar.
The other reason is that the westerly winds, which are not supposed to enter India during the monsoon months, were blowing in from Pakistan. Experts said the balance has now been normalised.
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