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Journalism of Courage
NAGPUR, July 18: While monsoons are lashing across the rest of the country, the people of Vidarbha are still looking heavenward for the elusive clouds.
The city has not received even a fraction of the usual average rainfall till now, though July is the typical monsoon month, when Nagpur gets the highest monthly rainfall. Vidarbha did witness heavy showers in the beginning of July, but after that there has been no sign of rains.
Meteorologists are hoping the situation will change for the better, now that a low pressure area has formed over the Bay of Bengal on Thursday morning.
According to weather experts, Vidarbha is likely to come in “the favourable zone of rainfall activity” within a couple of days. Meteorology department director V Vishwanadham went so far as to call it the `silver lining.’
Vidarbha region mainly gets its rainfall due to the weather systems over the Bay of Bengal, but the systems which have formed so far have been weak. They did not last for more than one or two days, and hence rainfall could not be sustained.
The resultant dry spell has created problems for the people in rural areas, for whom rains are a question of survival. The farmers had started sowing seeds with the first showers, but found the seeds withering when the rains disappeared soon after.
The levels have plunged to an alarming low in the Pench reservoir, which provides drinking water to Nagpur. The city will be drier than the Sahara next summer, unless it rains.
Even the system over the north Bay of Bengal and north Orissa coast may not give the much needed heavy showers. “Distribution-wise the rains would be good, but not intensity-wise. Don’t expect heavy downpours just as yet,” cautioned Vishwanadham.
