Page 22 - Yucaipa Valley Water District - Board Workshop
P. 22
Workshop Memorandum No. 16-001 Page 18 of 18
“Declaring droughts is in the domain of state governments and there are technicalities
involved in it,” Laxman Singh Rathore, director general of the IMD, told the DNA
newspaper. “Our work is to monitor rainfall and its deficiency. The meteorological field is
vast and we have our own way of defining droughts purely on the basis of rainfall
deficiency.”
The change in name comes at a time when the country is staring at a 14% deficit in the
annual monsoon rainfall through 2015, which has affected more than 300 districts
across India. The monsoon, which typically begins at the end of May and goes on till
September, accounts for about 70% of India’s annual rainfall.
2015 also marked the fourth time in over a century when India faced back-to-back
drought years, with a rain shortfall of more than 10% in consecutive years. The last time
the country faced a similar situation was between 1985 and 1987. So far, 10 state
government have declared droughts, and the Narendra Modi government has
sanctioned Rs10,000 crore to seven of these states.
“There is a lot of politics involved in declaring droughts,” Rathore told the Mint
newspaper. “Sometimes, rainfall can be good and crops bad or vice-versa.”
Source: http://qz.com/589483/india-has-decided-that-it-wont-have-drought-years-anymore/
Yucaipa Valley Water District - January 12, 2016 - Page 22 of 279
“Declaring droughts is in the domain of state governments and there are technicalities
involved in it,” Laxman Singh Rathore, director general of the IMD, told the DNA
newspaper. “Our work is to monitor rainfall and its deficiency. The meteorological field is
vast and we have our own way of defining droughts purely on the basis of rainfall
deficiency.”
The change in name comes at a time when the country is staring at a 14% deficit in the
annual monsoon rainfall through 2015, which has affected more than 300 districts
across India. The monsoon, which typically begins at the end of May and goes on till
September, accounts for about 70% of India’s annual rainfall.
2015 also marked the fourth time in over a century when India faced back-to-back
drought years, with a rain shortfall of more than 10% in consecutive years. The last time
the country faced a similar situation was between 1985 and 1987. So far, 10 state
government have declared droughts, and the Narendra Modi government has
sanctioned Rs10,000 crore to seven of these states.
“There is a lot of politics involved in declaring droughts,” Rathore told the Mint
newspaper. “Sometimes, rainfall can be good and crops bad or vice-versa.”
Source: http://qz.com/589483/india-has-decided-that-it-wont-have-drought-years-anymore/
Yucaipa Valley Water District - January 12, 2016 - Page 22 of 279
