Rainfall and other forms of Precipitation

This report under the WHiRL research project by the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) identifies the potential unintended impacts of water harvesting so that, if at all possible they are avoided altogether, but if these do occur, they are recognised at an early stage and steps are taken to mitigate their affects. It highlights evidence that is emerging about water harvesting in semi-arid areas, on how water if used inappropriately, can lead to inequitable access to water resources and, in the extreme, to unreliable drinking water supplies.

The latest news indicates that the monsoons and the flood situation has receded in most parts of India except in the North East where Manipur valley continues to suffer from incessant rains and flooding with attempts being started at flood management.

Water for Industry

• Orissa: Jajpur and Kendrapara districts in the grip of water crisis due to indiscriminate use of water by industries in Kalinga Nagar

Climate Change/Environment

• Green India Mission (GMI) document submitted to Prime Ministers Council as a part of the country’s plan to fight climate change

Recent reports on the monsoon and the flood situation indicate that the rainfall has receded from northern India and has shifted to the south of India. Reports indicate heavy rainfall and flooding in parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Reports also indicate that India’s 16-week monsoon period has ended last week and the meteorological department has confirmed of 102% than normal rainfall. Inspite of the floods and the problems associated with it, reports also indicate positive news that the heavy rainfall has helped to recharge lakes and water bodies in different parts of India and may see a positive impact on agriculture in the coming days.

• The news earlier in the week still reports of flood fury in different parts of North India such as Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Hyderabad, Delhi, Agra. However, in the later part of the week, the flood situation seems to be easing in most parts of the North such as Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal except in Uttar Pradesh, especially western, where the situation still continues to be grim.

Reports of floods, swelling of rivers continue from various parts of North India such as Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand. There have been reports of landslides in the Himalayas, Himachal Pradesh, especially Shimla where the tourism industry has suffered and tourists have been reported to be stranded because of floods and landslides. Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have been the worst hit with a high number of deaths due to monsoon and floods.

Agriculture/Watershed Development

• Scientists from Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI) in Orissa have developed a new rice variety for water-logged areas
• Andhra's mammoth water harvesting program - 'Jalayagnam', sinks

I was going through weather data exposed by India Water Portal and I was thinking about an interesting application which would show my love to Bangalore. The best part of Bangalore is its temperature, rains and clouds. So I wrote this small app which uses the data provided by India Water Portal (which in turn is by CRU). IWP has data for all the districts in India, for every month and for multiple parameters. They have data for 100 years. It quite an amount of data to play with if you are interested. They have an easy way of filtering and downloading.