Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka are falling victim to the vagaries of monsoon

The southern States of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka are reeling under floods for the last few days following heavy rains from the southwestern monsoon. Though the monsoon is yet to formally commence its annual visit to India, the rain along the south Indian coast has caused enough damage in urban and rural areas to leave policy makers aghast about the impact of the real weather phenomenon that is expected to hit the shores in June-July. This has been the reality since 2018, with deluges and cloudbursts becoming regular features in these three States. Surprisingly, though the Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala wax eloquent over the Dravidian model and Kerala development model, the truth is that infrastructure facilities in both these States are much less than adequate when faced with natural disasters. Though Pinarayi Vijayan took a State-sponsored junket to the Netherlands to learn state-of-the-art technology to counter waterlogging, nothing has changed in Kerala. The State is facing hitherto unseen waterlogging that has brought public life to a grinding halt. Several deaths have been reported from various districts as rivers are overflowing even with the short spell of rains.

A similar situation prevails in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. There are many common factors behind these floods and waterlogging. The water-holding capacity of these States has taken a beating because of many reasons. There is no provision to hold back or store rainwater and it results in sudden floods. Meteorological scientists like Dr S Abhilash, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, are of the view that monsoon has become erratic over the last few decades. There is a flaw in the natural water regulation mechanism because of urbanization, apart from other issues. The only option is to change the conventional flood prevention mechanism to suit the changed monsoon pattern. The storm water drain model and canal system has to be reworked to accommodate the increased rain water quantity. Global warming and sea-level rising alone are not responsible for this new phenomenon. The pattern of rainfall has changed from the traditional system to short spells. Earth’s absorption and accommodating power has changed. An out-of-the-box solution making use of the knowledge gained by scientists like Dr Abhilash is the need of the hour.