Rainfall and other forms of Precipitation

This report presents the results based on climate change scenarios and identifies potential adaptation strategies. The study is part of the ‘Climate Change Impacts on Freshwater Ecosystems in the Himalayas’ (CCIFEH) project, a joint initiative of WWF-India and WWF-Nepal, supported by WWF-Netherlands and aims to study and understand climate change impacts on freshwater ecosystems, livelihoods and the economy.

Change in climate conditions and the frequency of natural disasters in recent times has made it imperative to find lasting adaptation solutions for the agriculture sector. Given that almost 60 per cent of the country’s population relies on this sector for its livelihood and that it contributes approximately 15.7 per cent of India’s GDP, an analysis of changes which could impact crop yields and subsequently lead to an instable food security scenario is necessary.

However, increasing anthropogenic intervention in the recent times appears to be contributing to terrain instability in addition to natural factors, as observed by increasing frequency and magnitude of landslides since 1970.

During August and September 2010, Uttarakhand Himalaya witnessed large-scale slope destabilization, particularly along the roads where widening work was in progress leading to huge damage. The cause of regional-scale landslides has been attributed to exceptionally high rainfall in the region during September. When the average rainfall for the month of August and September from 2000 to 2009 is compared with rainfall data of the same period of 2010, it was found that in September 2010, 336 per cent higher rainfall was received by the area. However, the question that arises is: was it unusual rainfall-induced calamity or a result of human intervention?

 In India, SW monsoon is the principal rainy season and it receives about 80 per cent of its total annual rainfall during the summer monsoon season, from June to September.

The Government of India’s 15-year old AIBP has come under much-deserved criticism for all-round non-performance. It was introduced to support states in "last mile" public irrigation projects, that is, projects which are nearly completed but whose full benefits can start flowing only after small, incremental investments are made. Yet, the AIBP has been used mostly for funding new projects.

Good option: The city needs multiple sourcing of water and open wells have the potential to provide up to a third of the requirement

Just how a city can be arbitrary with its policy on water management and therefore leading to sub-optimal conditions is made clear by a recent example one came across. Balasubramanian had an old open well dug to a depth of 30 ft. when he first built his house in the early 80s. The well had yielded water for quite some years but then subsequently had gone dry.