India heading for worst drought since 1972: weather data
New Delhi (AFP) Sept 23, 2009 – India’s monsoon was about 20 percent below strength just over a week before the official end of the rainy reason, putting the country on course for its worst drought since 1972, weather data showed Wednesday. “Until September 21, for the country as a whole, the rain deficiency was 22 percent,” said B.K. Bandopadhyay, a spokesman for the weather office. “We expect the total rain deficiency will be roughly about 20 percent (at the end of the monsoon season). It depends on the rainfall, but it seems it will be around this number,” he added. … Bandopadhyay said that a rain deficit of 20 percent would be worse than previous droughts in 2002, 1987 and 1979 when the shortfall was about 19 percent. In 1972, the deficit measured 23.9 percent, he said. … India’s weather service said recent reports showed that more than half the country was affected by the drought and the key farming areas in the north, northeast and some parts of western India were worst affected. Rains in the northwest were 34 percent less than average, in central regions they were down by 19 percent, and the northeast had a 26-percent shortfall.…
