Listen to the falling rain, listen to it fall” go the lyrics of a popular song by Jose Feliciano, which is what the southern parts of India are doing at the moment as the 2016 southwest monsoon has se
Listen to the falling rain, listen to it fall” go the lyrics of a popular song by Jose Feliciano, which is what the southern parts of India are doing at the moment as the 2016 southwest monsoon has set in, promising to bring with it nature’s bounty. What sets the pulse racing this time, after two years of intense drought, is that the rain instils hope that the IMD may be right in predicting a normal monsoon, for the first time in about five years, for most parts of India. The monsoon is an extremely complex weather system which few have been able to divine, and despite technological advancements we are still completely beholden to nature to supply us fresh water for producing food and for the needs of about 1.3 billion people.
India is going in for a Rs 400-crore supercomputer to make weather forecasting more accurate than the largely statistical model in use by IMD. More precise macro and micro forecasts are vital for farmers to plan their crops and irrigation methods. With the GDP about a fifth reliant on agricultural produce, not to speak of the food security provided by diligent farmers and the rural spend being entirely dependent on the strength of the monsoon, good rainfall is a must for the Indian economy.
Of greater importance than our ability to forecast rain more accurately is to improve our storage infrastructure and preserve groundwater resources. The government is committed to spending MGNREGA funds to look after just this aspect. There can’t be a better time than a good monsoon season to think of how we can stretch our limited fresh water resources and not waste any.
