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Rainfall across India showing decreasing trend since 1951

By AJIT PATOWARY

GUWAHATI, Aug 20 - Rainfall in the country is at present in its dry epoch. The rainfall data belonging to the period between 1951 and 2017, indicate that the all India South West Monsoon as well as annual rainfall in the country has a significant decreasing trend, even as the analysis of the data belonging to past 117 years, between 1901 and 2017, leads to the finding that the all India Southwest Monsoon seasonal rainfall as well as annual rainfall has no significant increasing or decreasing trend.

This was stated by Union Minister of Earth Sciences Dr Harsh Vardhan in reply to a Lok Sabha question on July 25, 2018. The question on the issue of average rainfall in the country was put by Dr Sanjay Jaiswal (unstarred number 1284). The copy of the Minister�s reply is now available with this newspaper.

The Union Minister said in his reply that if the rainfall data for the period between 1901 and 2017 are taken into consideration, the average rainfall of the country has not shown any significant decrease. Several scientists, including those of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) have after analysing the data for the past over 100 years, reported that the all India rainfall has multi-decadal/epochal variability and currently it is in dry epoch, said the Union Minister.

Though the analysis of the data belonging to the past 117 years between 1901 and 2017 has revealed that the all India South West Monsoon seasonal rainfall as well as annual rainfall has no significant increasing or decreasing trend, if the period between 1951 and 2017 is considered, it is found that the all India South West Monsoon as well as annual rainfall has significant decreasing trend.

Explaining the reason for this development, the Minister said that the initial decade of 1951 to 1960 was a wet epoch and there after dry epoch has started. Between 1901 and 2017, the initial few decades were dry epochs, which were followed by wet epochs which were again followed by dry epochs and as a result there was no significant decreasing trend.

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