Guwahati: Union Minister of Earth Sciences Dr. Jitendra Singh stated on Wednesday that over the past three decades (1989-2018), southwest monsoon rainfall has significantly decreased in at least five Indian states.
The five states are Meghalaya, Nagaland, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal, which includes five Northeastern states.
The minister revealed that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had examined variations and variability in observed monsoon rainfall at the State and District levels across 29 states and a union territory.
The IMD published a study on March 30, 2020 based on observational data from the past 30 years (1989-2018) during the Southwest monsoon season from June to September.
As per press release by Ministry of Earth Science, Dr. Singh stated the highlights of the report as:
- The annual rainfall over these five states along with the states of Arunachal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh also show significant decreasing trends.
- 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 & 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& Goa and Uttarakhand.