Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, Feb 27, 2004
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, Feb 27, 2004 |
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Industry & Economy
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Climate & Weather TN annual rainfall average declining, says study Our Bureau
Hyderabad , Feb. 26 IS Tamil Nadu getting progressively dry with time? According to monsoon data, the answer seems to be a firm yes. In fact, the 1980's saw an all time low rainfall during the entire 20th century, with annual rainfall of a meagre 525.5 mm and the second lowest of 601.1 mm recorded in the State, a study done by Dr P. Guhathakurta of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Pune has revealed. The IMD study analysed decadal rainfall data from the year 1901 to do a trend study. Interestingly, the rainfall values for each decade on an average started declining from the decade 1961-70, with a drastic fall experienced during 1981-90. Presenting these findings at the ongoing International Symposium on Natural Hazards (INTROMET-2004), organised by the Indian Meteorological Society (IMS), Dr Guhathakurta said the decades 1921-30 and 1931-40 were the best during the 20th century for Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. The southern State recorded the highest ever rainfall of 1,314.5 mm average during the 10-year period of 1921-30. The study took rainfall data from all the 197 rain gauge stations, which record information to compute the annual rainfall, he said in the paper presented at the symposium. The decreasing rainfall trend in Tamil Nadu and also Pondicherry has been a worrying factor as the availability of under ground drinking water is becoming scarcer by the year, despite the fact that the State was expected to receive bountiful rains from both the Southwest as well as the Northeast monsoons. The average annual rainfall of Tamil Nadu is 1,267 mm. In view of these factors, the IMD Pune researchers undertook the study considering long time meteorological data. In an earlier study done by Dr B. Parthasarathy and Mr O.N. Dhar in 1974, it was observed that there was a decreasing trend in rains during the period 1901-60, but it was not significant even at 95 per cent significance levels, the Pune study quoted. The IMD study of the period 1901-60 corroborates the earlier report and clearly indicates the remarkable decrease in the next four decades.
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