Describe the progress of the monsoon winds over India during the rainy season.
Open in App
Solution
As India is surrounded by Bay
of Bengal on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west, south-west monsoons in India
arrive as Bay of Bengal branch and Arabian Sea branch.
Bay of Bengal branch is
divided into two distinct streams:
First stream crosses
Ganga-Brahmaputra delta and reaches Meghalaya, here the orographic effect
causes intense rainfall of 1,102 cm from June to October.
Mawsynram and Cherrapunjee both
the stations located on southern slopes of Khasi hills receive immense rainfall
from this branch of monsoon.
The second stream of Bay of Bengal
branch southwest monsoons move along the foot of Himalayas and are deflected to
the west by the Himalayas and brings heavy rains to Gangetic plains.
Arabian Sea branch is divided
into three distinct streams:
First one strike
perpendicular to the Western Ghats causing plentiful rainfall of about 400 to 500
cm annual rainfall on the windward side of Western Ghats.
The second stream enters
Narmada-Tapti regions in central India but do not cause heavy rainfall because
of the absence of an orographic obstacle.
The third stream moves
parallel to the Aravali Range without causing much rainfall. Consequently, the
whole of Rajasthan is a desert area.
By July end both these branches meet in the Northern part of India.