'Entire Himalayan region vulnerable to cloudbursts'

New Delhi, Aug 8: The entire Himalayan region is vulnerable to cloudburst and 16 glacial lakes in Himachal Pradesh are potentially  dangerous, Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences S Jaipal Reddy today said.
 "Entire Himalayan region is vulnerable to rain induced hazards in the form of cloudburst. Apart from Himachal Pradesh, the threat of  cloudburst exists in Uttarakhand, Kashmir, Leh and other places in Himalayan region," the Minister told Lok Sabha said in a written reply.
 A study by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development reported 156 glacial lakes in Himachal Pradesh with 16 of them as  potentially dangerous, he noted.
 The Earth System Science Organisation (ESSO-IMD) of the Ministry of Earth Sciences has formulated the 'Himalayan Meteorology Program'  for augmenting observing systems by deploying doppler weather radars, rain radars, automatic weather stations and automatic rain gauges.
 The enhanced spatial and time resolution of observations would contribute to improved prediction of Himalayan weather in general and extreme  weather events in particular.
 "The assimilation of the above observational data will facilitate improvement in now-casting and forecasting over the hill States."

Source: http://tinyurl.com/ks2f26v

20 Kinnaur villages without power for 50 days

SHIMLA: In rain-ravaged Kinnaur district, residents in over 20 villages under Pooh sub-division are forced to live in darkness as the state government has not been able to ensure power supply since June 16, after flashfloods and landslides damaged the main supply line to this tribal area. While the residents are demanding early restoration of supply, officials claimed that partial restoration in these areas would be completed by August 15 while in some places, it would take another few months as damage is huge.

After heavy rainfall of June 16 and 17 resulted in flash floods and landslides along with road network and communication system, the power supply system also suffered extensive damage. While majority of roads in the district have been opened and communication network restored to most parts, the slow pace of restoration work on power transmission lines has left Kinnaur residents agitated.

A resident of Nesang village and former IAS officer R S Negi said it is pity that Kinnaur district, having major hydro power projects, is not getting electricity. "The state government is exploiting the hydro power potential of Kinnaur the most but is not showing interest in ensuring restoration of power supply to residents at the earliest," he said. In the absence of power supply, residents are finding it hard to complete their chores as neither candles nor kerosene is available to make alternate arrangements. "This is affecting the studies of children as well," he added.

Kinnaur district is part of Mandi parliamentary constituency where a byelection was held on June 27. Before going for polls, despite flood and landslides snapping road, power and communication lines, residents of this tribal district that shares its borders with China, were promised restoration work on war footing.

"But once polls were over, restoration work took back seat. People are without electricity in many villages as restoration work is being carried out at snail's pace. This shows how the government has forgot the miseries of Kinnaur residents after elections got over on June 27," said former Kinnaur MLA Tejwant Singh Negi.

Executive engineer of state electricity board at Reckong Peo, Ajit Negi, said that power supply to most of the villages under Pooh sub-division would be restored by August 15, while for Kunnu-Charang and Asrang areas, restoration of power supply would take time as huge damage to infrastructure has been caused there. Pooh sub-division suffered the maximum damage to power transmission system in the entire district, he said.

"So far we have already laid new main line of 30 km that includes installation of new poles and transformers. The restoration work got delayed as road was blocked since July 25 due to which supply of poles and other material could not reach us," he added.

Deputy speaker Jagat Singh Negi said that all required funds have been allotted to carry out restoration of power supply, but still around two dozen villages of KInnaur district are without power. "Compared to other departments, electricity department is lagging in restoration work," he added.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/n7dxa3g

Monsoon preparedness keeps floodwaters at bay

KOCHI, June 17, 2013 

City corporation’s efforts to prevent flooding pay dividends

Civic authorities of Kochi are heaving a sigh of relief as the city remains relatively free from floodwaters despite the heavy rain.

Usually, during the monsoon, civic administrators would be deluged with complaints of water logging. Corporation officials would also have to slog it out to clear floodwater from the streets. However, this time, rain water was drained into the backwaters to prevent flooding in the city. Civic administrators believe its efforts have started yielding results.

During the last two years, corporation divisions were allotted adequate funds for constructing drains. The drains built at divisions helped in clearing flood waters, said Soumini Jain, chairperson of the Works Standing Committee of the Kochi Corporation.

During the current fiscal, each division was allotted Rs.12 lakh. Last year, each division bagged Rs.10 lakh. 

The extensive clearing of silt and other deposits from the Thevara Perandoor canal by Kochi Metro Rail Limited last year had also played a part, she said. The canal was cleaned as part of the preparatory works of the Kochi Metro Rail project.

However, severe shortage of rain had failed to test the efficacy of the work. This year, the canal’s increased carrying capacity had succeeded in clearing floodwaters, she said.

Meanwhile, opposition councillors pointed out that some areas in the city were still flooded. 

“Areas near the KSRTC bus stand, some reaches of MG Road and Edappally are inundated,” said K.N. Sunilkumar, CPI(M) leader in the corporation council. Areas of West Kochi including Konam, Perumpadappu, Thoppumpady, Valummel, Mattanchery and Kazhuthumuttu too were flooded, he said.

M. Anilkumar, CPI (M) councillor of the corporation, said the real test for civic administrators was keeping floodwaters at bay when it rained incessantly during high tide. Kochi had not experienced intense showers as yet. If rain activity intensified, many areas would be flooded, he said.

Mr. Anilkumar said the previous regimes’ efforts to set up a flood management mechanism in the central city area had started paying dividends. 

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/monsoon-preparedness-keeps-floodwaters-at-bay/article4820702.ece

Monsoon moving rapidly, ahead of schedule

Friday, Jun 14, 2013, 23:38 IST | Place: New Delhi | Agency: PTI

Making rapid progress, Monsoon is a week ahead of its schedule and will cover the entire country before the slated date of July 15, a news that should bring cheers to all, particularly the farmers.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the country will receive 101% of the long-term average rainfall in July and 96 per cent in August.
For the country as a whole, Monsoon has been 28%  excess since its onset over Kerala on June 1.

“Monsoon has been very good so far having covered two-thirds of the country's land-mass,” IMD director general Laxman Singh Rathore told reporters here.
Rathore, who has vast experience in agro-meteorology, said early onset of Monsoon has led to early sowing, particularly of coarse cereals in last year's drought-hit regions.

“Whenever there is timely sowing, we have seen that the production is good. Particularly with respect to drought-hit regions of 2012 — the semi-arid corridor which produces coarse cereals there has been early sowing,” he said.

Also, the bright side for paddy crop is that with timely onset of monsoon nursery raising is in place. “This would facilitate early or timely cross planting,” he said.
Rathore said for long-term crops like cotton, sugarcane and plantation crops the irrigation requirement has vanished due to good rains, which would lead to lower cultivation costs and healthy crop.

The weatherman said rainfall has been good in drought-hit with Marathwada getting 32% excess rains, Vidarbha (96), Madhya Maharashtra (82), North Interior Karnataka (53), South Interior Karnataka (41) and Saurashtra & Kutch 300 per cent excess rains.

Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/1848153/report-monsoon-moving-rapidly-ahead-of-schedule

Excess monsoon so far, July-Aug to get normal rains

New Delhi: As monsoon makes rapid progress, weather scientists today said the annual rains would cover the entire country ahead of schedule but were skeptical about showers in September.

“Monsoon has been very good so far having covered two-thirds of the country’s land-mass,” Laxman Singh Rathore, Director-General of India Meteorological Department, told reporters in New Delhi.

Releasing an update on the monsoon forecast, he said the country would receive normal and fairly distributed rain in July and August. Rainfall is expected to be at 101 per cent of the long-term average in July and 96 percent in August.

For the country as a whole, monsoon has been 28 percent excess since onset over Kerala on 1 June.

Rathore, who has vast experience in agro-meteorology, said that early onset of monsoon has led to early sowing, particularly of coarse cereals in last year’s drought-hit regions.

“Whenever there is timely sowing, we have seen that the production is good. Particularly with respect to drought-hit regions of 2012– the semi-arid corridor which produces coarse cereals there has been early sowing,” he said.

Also, the bright side for paddy crop is that with timely onset of monsoon nursery raising is in place. “This would facilitate early or timely cross planting,” he said.
Rathore said for long-term crops like cotton, sugarcane and plantation crops the irrigation requirement has vanished due to good rains, which would lead to lower cultivation costs and healthy crop.

The weatherman said rainfall has been good in drought-hit with Marathwada getting 32 per cent excess rains, Vidarbha (96), Madhya Maharashtra (82), north interior Karnataka (53), south interior Karnataka (41) and Saurashtra and Kutch 200 percent excess rains.

Rathore said 90 percent of the 36 meteorological sub-divisions have received normal of excess rainfall since the onset of monsoon.

Monsoon rains have been scanty in the three sub-divisions of the northeast, he said but added that the region had received a good spell of pre-monsoon rains.

Haryana has so far received relatively lesser rains than its surrounding areas and the situation there was expected to improve in the coming week.

Rathore said the country would get excess and fairly well distributed rainfall in June.
The IMD also stuck to its April forecast of normal monsoon this year.

This is the fourth straight year that the government has forecast normal monsoon.
Regionwise, southern peninsula was expected to top the table with a rainfall of 103 percent for the season as a whole, followed by central and northeast India with a rainfall of 98 percent each and northwest 94 percent.

Rathore said that though compared to south India, the northwestern region was likely to get lesser rains, in absolute terms, rainfall over the northwest region will certainly not be insignificant.

“Ninety-four percent rainfall falls well within the normal range. There is no need for any worry,” he said.

Weather scientists are skeptical about the monsoon maintaining its momentum in the second half of the season, particularly September, as they see some unfavourable conditions developing in the Indian Ocean.

Monsoon is crucial for the kharif crops such as rice, soyabean, cotton and maize because almost 60 per cent of the farm land in the country is rainfed.

Rathore said El Nino or the seasonal warming of the equatorial Pacific Ocean which is known influence monsoon would continue to be neutral.

Source: http://www.firstpost.com/india/excess-monsoon-so-far-july-aug-to-get-normal-rains-872547.html