Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Hope the rain forecast turns out to be a reality' that was published in Newsband

Hope the rain forecast turns out to be a reality

The India Meteorological Department has projected that the monsoon rains will be above normal. The Met department also expects the above-normal rains to be well distributed across the key crop farming areas in the north-west, central and southern peninsular regions, with the likelihood of a shortfall seen only for the north-east.

The Reserve Bank of India had highlighted the significance of the rains to monetary policy. For manufacturers of goods ranging from personal care products to tractors, a bountiful monsoon can potentially deliver a substantial boost to sales. Adequate rainfall, especially in upstream catchment areas, would also help improve electricity supply in States more dependent on hydel-power, such as Karnataka and Kerala.

The government needs to strengthen the water retention and storage infrastructure. In his Budget speech, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that work on least five lakh farm ponds and dug wells would be taken up as part of MGNREGA.

It is good news for whole country that this year's monsoon will be above normal. Just till yesterday more than thirteen states in India suffered drought like situation hence it is good to hear from the MET department that there will be normal rain this time. But we need to review our preparedness to meet the welcome/unwelcomed rains as over the years the nation has been facing problems arising out of floods. There is need for finding solutions.

Water conservation is the foremost thing which is advised by our Prime Minister. So this is the best time to make lot of things to replenish the water bodies and recharge the aquifers. This can be done through connecting small water bodies by making new one and renovating the old canals. This will be used to drain the flood water and it will reduce the risk of flood. There is need to build the check dams to hold the water flow. Check dams help in ground water recharging greatly. Another important method is rain water harvesting in every home. There is no lack of expertise to deal with this situation. The lesson thought by nature in recent past is the wake up call for all of us. So the need of the hour is to act rapidly and cautiously to conserve the water and reduce the flood hand in hand wisely.

The government must learn some lessons from the past experiences so that the public don't suffer every time during drought or floods. Even before this year’s monsoon starts, the government across all states must plant and grow enough trees where ever possible. Trees which can grow faster and provide green cover within short span of time. Trees grown during this monsoon will help bring in more rains from the following year and it will also help recharge ground water level, which will prevent drought in most of the areas during subsequent years.

There should be a national level policy on providing a green cover and states must comply to the same. All the state governments must plan and provide storm water drains where ever required so that there are no man made flooding. All state governments must think of collecting, storing excess water obtained during monsoons using man made reservoirs, which can be utilized during following summer.

Hope to get a better productivity of food grains this year and hope that prices of all the vegetables will get lower with a lower inflation.