A look back at monsoon 2012

The year 2012 was the eighth consecutive year when the forecast of monsoon dates for Kerala proved correct. Most of the long-range forecasts were also accurate, except for northeast India, claims the 2012 South West Monsoon End of Season Report by India Meteorological Department (IMD), New Delhi.

2012 a drought year, accepts government

Pre-monsoon showers bring relief to north India

Pre-monsoon showers that hit Delhi and areas in Rohtak and Hisar in Haryana. Pilani and Jaipur in Rajasthan and Sundernagar in Himachal Pradesh on June 18 brought the much needed relief to people in these areas reeling under intense heat waves.  There is more good news. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that these pre-monsoon showers from western disturbances will bring relief from the heat wave to north India over the next few days, too.

El Nino may disrupt monsoons

IMD predicts normal monsoon this year

Despite the current spell of fluctuating weather, the monsoons this year would not be affected. This is good news for farmers because 60 per cent of agriculture in the country is rainfed. “India will experience a normal monsoon,” Union minister of earth sciences Vilasrao Deshmuksh announced during a briefing of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on April 26.

India must focus on rainfed farming

 

Floods cause havoc in drought-prone Barmer, Rajasthan

There's a popular saying in western Rajasthan Jaankhiyon laare meh. Loosely translated, it means a good rain always follows dust storms. This summer when Rajasthan's Jaisalmer and Barmer districts witnessed dust storms, people thought it augured relief after six years of drought. The rains did come but the boon fast became a bane.

Water woes in wet Kerala

With Parliamentary polls nearing, politicians turned the drought into an opportunity for wooing voters by running water tankers. Water scarcity was debated at street-corner campaign meetings, and rival political parties blamed each other and even the monsoon for the crisis.

Ladakh on the move

In Ladakh, the rest of India is referred to as down . Because, at no point in Leh district would you be less than about three kilometres above the mean sea level. This vast barren district is more than 45,000 square kilometre (sq km); it is perhaps India's largest and certainly its most sparsely populated.

Phulmai's walk - a day in the life of a headloader