File photo of search operations after landslides hit Mundakkai village in Wayanad district in Kerala.
Credit: Reuters Photo
New Delhi: Over 1,500 Indians died from extreme weather events in four monsoon months, the India Meteorological Department said here on Tuesday, raising red-flags on dangers posed by such weather.
While Kerala topped the list with 401 deaths – 397 are from flood and heavy rains – Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh recorded 189 and 138 deaths, respectively due to thunderstorms and lightning.
Bihar (61), Jharkhand (53), Chhattisgarh (38), Odisha (36), Maharashtra (35) and Rajasthan (25) also recorded a significant number of lightning deaths. Floods caused 102 deaths in Assam and 100 in Madhya Pradesh.
“The frequency of extreme weather events like heavy rainfall and heatwave is increasing,” said Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director general meteorology at IMD.
For years, meteorologists have been cautioning people about the rising frequency of extreme weather events as a consequence to global warming, adversely impacting the economy and killing people.
While Kerala’s high toll is primarily due to the devastating Wayanad flood, the IMD data reveals a steady increase in the number of “very heavy” (115.6-204.5 mm) and “extremely heavy” (more than 204.5 mm) rainfall events during the four-month long south west monsoon season over the last five years.
For instance, this year there were 525 very heavy rainfall events and 96 extremely heavy rainfall events. The corresponding numbers for 2023 were 377 and 85. For 2022, the figures were 224 and 22 respectively.
Such heavy precipitation was seen towards the fag end of the monsoon season (Sept 26-29) in Bihar, east Uttar Pradesh, sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim that were pounded by heavy rains.
The south west monsoon is still active in parts of India and complete withdrawal may prolong till mid-October.
Mohapatra said the north east monsoon might set in around Oct 17 and the three-month long winter rainfall season was likely to experience 112 per cent above average rainfall of over 334 mm. This rain is crucial for five southern meteorological sub-divisions including Tamil Nadu and south interior Karnataka.
The weather department predicted above-normal rainfall -- more than 115 per cent of the long-period average of 75.4 mm -- for the country in October.