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Question

What is scanty rainfall?


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Answer:

The word scanty rainfall suggests very little or almost no rainfall. As can be seen in deserts, scanty rainfall results in harsh, arid conditions.

Heavy rainfall is the reverse of scanty rainfall. In tropical rain forests, heavy rainfall is primarily observed and results in the development of biodiversity.

Distribution of rainfall in India

125 cm is the average annual rainfall in India.

  • Western Rajasthan, parts of Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana receive less than 60 cm rainfall annually.
  • Cherrapunji and Mawsynram in the Khasi Hills of Meghalaya receive rainfall over 1,080 cm in a year, in the same period, Jaisalmer in Rajasthan rarely receive 9 cm of rainfall.
  • Parts of Northeastern India and parts of Western Coast of India receive more than 400 cm of rainfall annually.
  • Annual rainfall in Meghalaya is 400 cm, the annual precipitation is less than 10 cm in Western Deserts and the Northwest Himalayas.
  • Chotanagpur plateau gets 15 cm rainfall from Monsoon winds blowing from the Arabian sea.

Distribution of rainfall in India can be divided into various categories:

  1. Areas of Inadequate Rainfall
  2. Areas of Low Rainfall
  3. Areas of Medium Rainfall
  4. Areas of High Rainfall

Areas of Inadequate Rainfall

These areas receive rainfall of less than 50 cm. The areas in India coming under areas of Inadequate rainfall are:

  • Parts of peninsula like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh.
  • Most of Western Rajasthan
  • Ladakh

Areas of Low Rainfall

These areas receive rainfall between 50 to 100 cm. The areas in India which are clubbed under this category are given below:

  • Gujarat, Deccan Plateau, Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Eastern Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir.

Areas of Medium Rainfall

These areas receive rainfall between 100 to 200 cm. The areas in India which are classified as Areas of Medium rainfall category are given below:

  • East Tamil Nadu, Northern Ganga plain along the sub-Himalayas, Manipur and the Cachar Valley, southern parts of Gujarat, northeastern Peninsula covering eastern Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha.

Areas of High Rainfall

  • In the Brahmaputra valley and the adjoining hills, the rainfall is less than 200 cm.
  • The rainfall exceeds 1,000 cm in some parts of Jaintia and Khasi hills.
  • The rainfall exceeds 200 cm in the northeast and the hills of Meghalaya, sub-Himalayan areas.
  • Very heavy rainfall occurs along the west coast, on the Western Ghats.
  • Western Coastal Plain and the windward side of the Sahyadris receive very heavy rainfall ranging between 250 cm and 400 cm.

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