Uttarakhand cloudbursts a sign of extreme weather events ahead

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 1

As plains in the North sweat it out under high humidity, waiting for their share of monsoon rains hopefully within the next 48 hours as per the IMD, the Uttarakhand cloudbursts are being seen as another indication of extreme events expected this season.

That there is a higher chance of increased number of extreme events this year has already been indicated by the IMD and demonstrated by the recent killer thunderstorms in Bihar that followed intense heatwave and heavy floods events in the South and East during May.

In order to be not taken by surprise — as in case of drought when the government’s late reaction to agriculture and farmers’ distress came under widespread criticism, this time, officials say, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been in “regular touch” with officials concerned, keeping a tab on monsoon-related developments.

“Apart from its direct relation with the country’s economy, agriculture and water resources, monsoon, more or less both, has a much wider impact,” they say.

Most of the rivers in Uttarakhand are in spate and the Met office has issued a warning of heavy to very heavy rain over places in Nainital, Udhamsingh Nagar and Champawat districts during the next two days as well.

Meanwhile, as per the IMD, monsoon is expected to strike Punjab, Haryana and Delhi anytime. Knocking at doors of the plains in the North, the IMD says conditions are favourable for its further advance in some more parts of East Rajasthan, remaining parts of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, west Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, most parts of Punjab and Haryana and Chandigarh and Delhi and also some parts of West Rajasthan during the next 48 hours.

During the last week, rainfall was above normal by 1% over the country as a whole, remaining above normal over central India and south peninsula.