Monsoon 2019 : Mumbai reels under Rains
Though a bit late, the Southwest Monsoon has reached Mumbai and parts of Gujarat. The city of Mumbai has been reeling with several major traffic jams and waterlogging after receiving a heavy bout of rainfall. The rain has, however, brought relief to the prevailing dry and parched climate in the city.
Monsoons in India
- Most of India receives its rainfall in a short duration with the arrival of the Southwest Monsoons.
- It is a four-month period where massive thunderstorms dominate India’s weather.
- By most estimates, it is the most productive wet season on Earth as the biodiversity gets a major flip after the onset of rains.
- Monsoons occur as a low-pressure region is developed over South Asia and humidity laden winds move in to normalize the pressures.
- The existence of the Himalayas stop most of the rainfall from leaving Indian subcontinent and the Tibetan Plateaus exist as a rain shadow area.
- Monsoons supply 80% of the annual rainfall received by India.
- There are two branches of the southwest monsoons- one east (Bay of Bengal) branch and one west (Arabian Sea) branch.
- Monsoons reduce the temperature, provide water for drinking and irrigation and also replenish the groundwater table, rivers, and the other water bodies.
- Monsoons have a direct bearing on the overall economic health of the nation as Weak or failed monsoons (droughts) result in widespread agricultural losses and substantially hinder overall economic growth.
What opportunities does it hold?
The very nature of the monsoons makes it unpredictable. Climate change is impacting the monsoon patterns and this may have a direct bearing on our future living. There is a need to sustainably and judiciously harness the falling rainwater lest it runs away, causing floods and leaving destruction in its wake.
