It was complete chaos last year, will monsoon be different this year
Some northern regions of India witnessed a good amount of rains last week hinting at the early arrival of monsoon in India. IMD (Indian Meteorological Department) had predicted in April that India will get an overall ‘normal’ monsoon rainfall this year. It was predicted that during the month of June and July, there would be less rainfall but it will later make up for it in August and September. The prediction showed a similar pattern of rainfall like last year.
The coastal region of West Bengal. Odisha and Mizoram are expected to witness below normal rainfall while Kerala and Tamil Nadu will see more than normal rainfall.
Monsoon in 2019
There was a drought in Chennai and huge scarcity of water in Mumbai last year just before the monsoon. The government had to arrange water tankers for the families in Chennai for their daily needs of water. The monsoon was late to arrive in the country in 2019. Many cities and villages suffered water shortages and farmers suffered drought.
Later, the monsoon season in 2019 overran by almost a month, with unprecedented rainfall in various parts of the country. The excessive rain caused the flood and resulted in deaths due to collapsing of walls and buildings.
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The monsoon in north India ends by the beginning of September in normal circumstances but the average rainfall in September month was 37% above normal, way more than usual.
Many areas of the country went underwater with unprecedented rain. Homes were flooded and people had to pass through streets with water up to their knees which were not normal in many areas.
Cities such as Patna, Lucknow, Kolkata and Hyderabad also experienced heavy rainfall. The prolonged rains caused extensive damage to the homes in Uttarakhand.
For the average citizens, the impact of the delayed and late-receding monsoon resulted in the rise of the price of onions. Onions were sold at Rs 2 per kg at various locations while Rs 100 per kg became normal.
How is this year different?
The predicted weather pattern is similar in the year 2020 but we have not seen reports of water shortages or drought this year despite a rise in consumption of water due to coronavirus. Washing hands on regular occasions have become the new normal to keep the deadly infection away.
Till now, we have not witnessed anything unusual in the raining patterns so far across India. The monsoon is behaving as per the prediction but the prediction for the month of August and September is still a concern. We do not want to see images of floods due to excessive rain this year. There has already been enough bad news in 2020 so far.
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