Floods cause havoc in drought prone Barmer, Rajasthan
There's a popular saying in western Rajasthan: Jaankhiyon laare meh. Loosely translated, it means a good rain always follows dust storms. This summer when Rajasthan's Jaisalmer and Barmer districts witnessed dust storms, people thought it augured relief after six years of drought. The rains did come but the boon fast became a bane. Barmer was deluged with 750 mm of rainfall in the last week of August: five times the district's average annual rainfall. Floods also ravaged arid Gujarat, and neighbouring Maharashtra, while usually-wet Assam reeled under droughts, causing many experts to argue that climate is changing.
"Extreme weather events occur in cycles. But worldwide, the frequency of such extreme events is increasing because of climate change,' says environmentalist Anupam Mishra. Similarly, in July 2003, un's World Meteorological Organization had warned of an increase in frequency of extreme weather events because of climate change.The deluge in Rajasthan was caused by a low pressure zone over the area, itself a result of extreme heat conditions, experts note. Low pressure area in deserts that results from extreme heat is referred to as