Heena Sharma Blog

India, one of the world's biggest agricultural producers, experienced its heaviest monsoon rains in 25 years this year. While rain would normally cheer the agricultural heartland, the monsoon was erratic and has left many crops damaged. WHY IS THE MONSOON IMPORTANT? India is the world's biggest producer of sugar, cotton and pulses and the second-biggest producer of wheat and rice. The success of these crops is largely determined by the June-September monsoon, which delivers about 70 per cent of the country's annual rainfall. The monsoon is also critical for the wider economy. Farming makes up about 15 per cent of the $2.5 trillion economy and employs more than half of the country's 130 crore people. While crops in the ground have been damaged by the monsoon, the rains have replenished reservoirs and ground water reserves, which augurs well for India's rural economy in 2020. WHAT WENT WRONG WITH THIS MONSOON? A prolonged dry spell resulted in sign...

After a break of few days, heavy rains returned to Mumbai and its neighbouring areas on Monday morning, affecting road and rail traffic and briefly disrupting operations at the city airport. The suburban areas received around 20 mm rainfall in just three hours starting 8.30 am, an official at the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) centre here said. This caused water-logging on rail tracks at Ghatkopar, Kanjurmarg, Sion and other stations due to which local trains on the Central Line were running slow. Several local trains on the Central and Western lines were also cancelled due to flooding on the tracks, railway officials said. Office-goers who commute by local trains, considered the lifeline of Mumbai, were hit hard due to the heavy downpour in the morning rush hour. Operations at the airport were suspended for around 20 minutes in the morning and three city-bound flights were diverted to some nearby airports, an official from the Mumbai International Airport...

India's financial capital limped back to normalcy Wednesday morning with public transport resuming services after torrential rains, that lashed the city since Sunday, subsided. At 375.2 mm, the rainfall in the 24-hour period before 8.30 am Tuesday was the highest since the July 26, 2005, deluge in Mumbai. It had widely affected train and bus services while several flights had to be diverted from Mumbai airport and others were delayed for hours. A senior Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official Wednesday said that with respite from incessant showers, there was no more water logging in any parts of the city and suburban trains and BEST buses were running according to schedule. According to a BEST spokesperson, out of 3,203 buses, 2,950 were plying on roads. The Central Railway has decided to operate its suburban services in Mumbai division on Sunday time table, which means it will ply fewer trains, compared to weekdays when trains are run in full capacity. "In...

India's monsoon rains were 24% below average in the week ended June 26, the weather office said on Thursday, as the seasonal rainfall was scanty over central and western parts of the country. The rains are crucial for farm output and economic growth as about 55% of the south Asian nation's arable land is rain-fed, and the farm sector makes up about 15% of a nearly $2.5-trillion economy that is Asia's third-biggest. The below-average rainfall has delayed sowing of summer-sown crop such as rice, soybean and corn and threatens to curtail crop yields. Monsoon has delivered 36% lower-than-normal rainfall since the start of the season on June 1, due to a delay in the onset of monsoon rains, according to data compiled by India Meteorological Department. Monsoon rains arrived in Kerala on June 8. However, Cyclone Vayu developed in the Arabian Sea drew moisture from the monsoon and weakened its progress. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard