2019 – Posted in: Daily News – Tags: traditional theory of monsoon

SOUTHWEST MONSOON

For: Mains

Topics covered: SouthWest Monsoon, Delayed and Lower than average, Farmer’s demands, Monsoon related theories, IMD

India faces a 38% current rainfall deficit due to late running Southwest Monsoon.

According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the country has only received 43% of the normal monsoon rainfall so far.
In total, almost 80% of districts face a rainfall deficit of at least 20% below normal.
According to the Central Water Commission (CWC), 80% of the country’s 91 major reservoirs have below-normal storage.
11 reservoirs have no water at all.

Groups of farmers’ demanding that the government declare drought in affected areas without waiting till the end of the monsoon.
Drought must be declared in all those districts where sowing has been severely affected owing to 50% or greater deficit in June.
All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee, demanded that the Central norms for crop loss compensation (input subsidy) must be revised to at least Rs. 10,000 per acre for un-irrigated land and proportionately higher amounts for irrigated land and horticultural crops.
Crop insurance must be paid in full and in a timely manner.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) must ensure that farmers are not denied credit due to impending drought.
Government to extend the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) from 100 to 150 days of work in drought-affected areas.

It affects the Indian subcontinent, where it is one of the oldest and most anticipated weather phenomena.
It is an economically important pattern every year from June to September.
The unique geographical features of the Indian subcontinent, along with associated atmospheric, oceanic, and geophysical factors, influence the behavior of the monsoon.

It is also known as the thermal theory or the differential heating of sea and land theory.
The traditional theory portrays the monsoon as a large-scale sea breeze.
It states that during the hot subtropical summers, the massive landmass of the Indian Peninsula heats up at a different rate than the surrounding seas, resulting in a pressure gradient from south to north. This causes the flow of moisture-laden winds from sea to land. On reaching land, these winds rise because of the geographical relief, cooling adiabatically and leading to orographic rains. This is the southwest monsoon.
The southwest monsoon flows from sea to land and carries more moisture.

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