Editorial»
Monsoon musings
AUG 05 -
Each spring, one event brings the entire country together. With shared anticipation, rural and urban folks alike anxiously wait for the summer monsoon’s arrival. Urban dwellers, stifled by the oppressive heat, hold their breath till the rains clear the dust from the air and replenish the supply of water trickling from local taps. The seasonal winds begin to shift and scattered showers tease the farmers waiting to sow their cracked fields. As the pressure drops and the temperatures rise, attracting the cool air from the Indian Ocean, the skies open up, supplying the fuel needed to invigorate Nepal’s lifeblood. Following the downpour, fields swell with life and city residents find welcome relief from the scorching sun. But the seasonal salvation that aroused life in the countryside quickly turns into a deluge, inundating villages and rendering hundreds homeless. In the same torrent, a diarrhoea endemic snakes its way through the water sources of those already devastated. The disease has taken the lives of over 100 people already this year. Some farmers, once pleading to the gods for rain, now curse their swamped fields. Splashes from vehicles plying Kathmandu’s pot-holed roads highlight the city’s poorly maintained infrastructure and residents remain trapped. But come September, with the same swiftness that it arrives, the monsoon turns back to the ocean on the second half of its yearly cycle leaving little more than an afterthought for the people of Nepal.
Though the pattern has varied slightly from year to year, the overall picture has remained the same. Nepal remains dependent upon the erratic monsoon’s mercy, with seemingly little being done to prepare for its next coming during its off-season. And while there is nothing that can be done to control its output, understanding the monsoon is the key to harnessing its gifts as well as bracing for its reproach. As the global climate continues to change, altering climatic patterns, the Asian monsoon has not remained unaffected and will exhibit even more divergences from the current pattern in years to come. Meteorologists are beginning to notice shifts in the monsoon: not only are the wet months changing-seeing a shift from July to August, but also the regions that the monsoon favours for plantation-this year the West seems to have won good turn for paddy plantation over the traditional Eastern stronghold. Apart from the necessary improvements to infrastructure to manage the monsoon’s downpour (or lack thereof)-including flood management and construction of irrigation channels, extensive research must be conducted to bring a greater understanding to these changes, allowing the nation to prepare for the coming shifts. At this point, the Department of Hydrometeorology, responsible for the collection and interpretation of this data has limited scope and funding to conduct the research needed to engage the monsoon rather than fall victim to it.
While the rain is falling, the monsoon’s omnipresence is a constant reminder of the issues at hand. But when the rains finally subside, let us not forget the lessons of the season.
Posted on: 2010-08-06 08:27
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