Monsoon Delay in Central India

Well, well well (all dry). By now, monsoon should have covered all of Bihar, most parts of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and the Gangetic plains of UP. But that hasn’t really happened. It is stuck around the Deccan Plateau and the coastline of the Gult-land and Orissa [3]. I live in Bhubaneswar, and I don’t think monsoon is here yet (Bhubaneswar is only 60 Km away from the Orissa coastline by the way).

What has been the impact so far?

• Prices of Indian Spices have gone up [1]
• Private water suppliers in Rajkot have found a nice pretext to ask for almost double the usual rates [4] and
• Elephants in Rajaji park are just not moving their asses [2]

And why the fuck has the monsoon delayed? My first answer would be God is no better than Government. But I do have a better and boring answer. A study published in the January2009  issue of Geophysical Research Letters had the following [5] to say:

Rising global temperatures will likely lead to an eastward shift in monsoon circulation which could result in more rainfall over the Indian Ocean, Myanmar and Bangladesh but less over Pakistan, India and Nepal, the study found.

Ah, if only the officials at Rajaji park had known about the result of this study, they could have kept the park open for some more time (yes – they closed it last week assuming that monsoons would arrive – when monsoons arrive the elephants migrate away). Also – those who are into masala export business, be happy. My only sympathies as of now are for 1. the Rajkot junta because they are going to be charged more year after year and 2. myself because I want to start running on roads once again.

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[1]http://in.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idINBOM43616820090615

[2]http://in.news.yahoo.com/32/20090618/1053/tnl-monsoon-delay-hinders-elephant-migra.html

[3]http://in.news.yahoo.com/32/20090617/1053/tnl-monsoon-delay-not-cause-for-worry-ye.html

[4]http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-58165.html

[5]http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jlEsxGrBmhmZZKiKaJF7GQ34jb6Q