Five states which included Meghalaya, Nagaland, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have shown significant decreasing trends in southwest monsoon rainfall during the recent 30 years’ period (1989-2018).
This was informed by Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh in the Lok Sabha last week.
In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Singh said that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has carried out an analysis of observed monsoon rainfall variability and changes of 29 states and Union Territories at State and district levels based on the IMD’s observational data of recent 30 years (1989- 2018) during the Southwest monsoon season from June to September (JJAS) and released a report on March 30, 2020.
The reports on observed rainfall variability and its trend for each State and Union Territory are available in IMD website (https://mausam.imd.gov.in/) under “PUBLICATIONS” as well as in IMD Pune website.
According to Singh, the annual rainfall over these five states along with the states of Arunachal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh also show significant decreasing trends.
The report stated that other states do not show any significant changes in southwest monsoon rainfall during the same period.
Considering district-wise rainfall, there are many districts in the country, which show significant changes in southwest monsoon and annual rainfall during the recent 30 years period (1989-2018).
With regard to the frequency of heavy rainfall days, significant increasing trend is observed over Saurashtra and Kutch, Southeastern parts of Rajasthan, Northern parts of Tamil Nadu, Northern parts of Andhra Pradesh and adjoining areas of Southwest Odisha, many parts of Chhattisgarh, Southwest Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Manipur & Mizoram, Konkan and Goa and Uttarakhand.
IMD has an effective forecast and dissemination mechanism through which necessary warnings and advisories are issued throughout the country well in advance for preparedness. The information on change in rainfall pattern is also shared with other stakeholders for its effective use and planning.
