Life in India is largely fated to rely heavily on the monsoons. While a deficit spells price rise, starvation and disastrous drought, a bountiful ‘record’ means floods, large-scale crop damage, price rise again and flood relief. The monsoon rain forecast Cassandras always create panic habitually by predicting the “worst drought since 1950”. The government’s high-sounding Earth System Science Organisation and the India Meteorological Department make vague predictions and self-styled experts create enough confusion to send all into a tizzy. Apart from this, there is climate change to blame. In the end, it’s the poor farmer who is left to fend for himself. One hopes that the supercomputer will bring order to this chaos (“Supercomputer to forecast monsoon with dynamical model”, July 28).
C.V. Venugopalan,Palakkad
Climate change, a lack of efficient technologies and the complex monsoon system in India always get the better of forecasting. The need of the hour is to develop innovative technologies and get help from other countries more experienced in weather forecasting. Private weather forecasters should also step in and present a picture of averages.
Vishiwjeet Singh,Patiala, Punjab
Since a fifth of our GDP is dependent on agriculture, it is imperative that there are more precise macro- and micro-forecasts. But more important is ensuring a farmer’s financial security, crop selection according to anticipated rainfall, and enabling more than adequate water storage infrastructure.
C. Koshy John,Pune
