![]() ![]() However, the Godavari river did flow at exceptional levels in the state, blasting through all forecasters' predictions. According to The Times of India, the closest the state has come to cloudburst-like conditions in recent times was in August 2000, when it witnessed 241.5 mm of rainfall in just a few hours. So, did a cloudburst occur over Telangana?įavourable meteorological events such as the presence of a low-pressure area over central India and the active state of the monsoon trough may have exacerbated rainfall in the area in the second week of July, but it was nowhere close enough for IMD to declare it as a cloudburst. Yet, despite the definition, heavy rain spells over a short time are highly damaging for hilly terrains and urban landscapes due to extreme runoff and inundation, respectively. In recent years, there has been conclusive proof that climate change has severely exacerbated the intensity and frequency of these events in Himalayan regions like Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.Įarlier this month, the intense rainfall events near Amaranath and over Himachal Pradesh were termed cloudbursts by the local authorities, even though they do not meet the above criteria by IMD. These are definitely possible and are, in fact, quite disastrous for the region it afflicts - which are mostly mountainous and hilly areas, as this meteorological event usually requires sloped terrain to form. Lightning, strong winds and flash-floods often accompany a cloudburst. In the middle of all this, the Telangana Chief Minister stringed theories that cloudburst events that caused floods in Kashmir, Ladakh, Uttarakhand, and over the swelling Godavari river may have had some "foreign meddling" at play! While many have discredited the cloudburst conspiracy theory already by saying that it's a ruse to hide the unpreparedness of the state, let us take a closer look and try to understand the event better.Īccording to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the official weather agency of our country, a cloudburst is characterised by intense precipitation in an extremely short amount of time (more than 100 mm in an hour) over a very localised area. So far, we've seen dangerous flooding ravage Assam and Meghalaya in the east, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh in the north, Gujarat and Maharashtra in the west, and now it threatens to put Telangana underwater in the south. ![]() The havoc-ridden rains have already stretched disaster rescue forces paper-thin across the country. This year, after a slow start, the annual rain festival turned active across most parts of the country in July. But it can just as easily throw a tantrum, causing extreme rainfall events and flooding that inflicts deaths and destruction. It blesses us with nearly 80% of the year's total moisture, helps grow crops, and fuels the economy. Monsoon is the chaotic boon that India has to cherish every year.
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