Ooty: Climate change factor behind torrential rains

OOTY: V. Sivadass, managing trustee of the Nilgiris Environment and Socio-cultural Trust, here said that global warming and climate change factors could be the reason behind the torrential rains in the Nilgiris during the Southwest monsoon.

“The SW monsoon rains usually follow a uniformity with moderate and heavy rainfall in patches with a continuous drizzle in June and July. The intensity of rains generally wanes from the first week of August, paving the way for showers till September end. But during this SW monsoon, rainfall was scanty during June and July. All of a sudden, there were torrential rains. Though thunder is a very rare phenomenon during the SW monsoon, since Wednesday, thunder showers have become a new phenomenon this year in the Nilgiris,” he pointed out.

Sudden heavy downpours not only trigger landslides and floods low-lying areas, but also damages farm fields and the farming cycle. The way the SW monsoon changed its pattern proves that the climate change factor has begun to impact Nilgiris, he explained.