NEW DELHI: The havoc caused by untimely rainfall in Uttarakhand this time can be attributed to the extended stay of the southwest monsoon even as experts say change in climate is altering weather patterns across India. The Himalayan state has recorded a whopping 192.6 mm rainfall against the normal 31.2 mm so far in October and out of this, 122.4 mm was recorded in a span of 24 hours, killing around 52 people. The presence of monsoon winds means abundance of moisture over the landmass, keeping conditions favourable for these weather systems.
“Had the monsoon departed timely, we would not have seen such torrential rains. Weather conditions were favourable for such heavy precipitation on account of multiple weather systems coming together. What prompted these systems was the delayed withdrawal of monsoon,” said G P Sharma, president, meteorology and climate change, Skymet Weather.
Late withdrawal of southwest monsoon is the new normal, courtesy climate change. According to the ‘Sixth Assessment Report Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis’ by the United Nations-led Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)-Working Group I, increasing global temperatures are changing monsoon patterns across Southeast Asia.
A warmer climate will intensify very wet and very dry weather and climate events and seasons, with implications for flooding or drought. Monsoon has been breaching its normal withdrawal date for many years now. With this, the IMD has also revised the commencement date of the monsoon withdrawal from September 1 to September 17. Normally, the withdrawal is completed by October 15, which has not been the case for the last decade.
Professor Y P Sundriyal, head of department, Geology, HNB Garhwal University said, “There is a huge gap between planning and implementation. Policy makers should be well versed with the geology of the region. Development is required but hydropower plants, especially in higher Himalayas, should be of less capacity.”
