The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast widespread light or moderate showers at most places, with heavy to very heavy rains (115.5 mm-224.5 mm) at isolated locations across Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura from Tuesday to Saturday (June 13-17).
Furthermore, isolated extremely heavy downpours (more than 224.5 mm) are likely to impact Assam and Meghalaya between Wednesday and Saturday (June 14-17).
On account of this intense precipitation activity, the IMD has issued a yellow watch (meaning ‘be updated’) over Northeast India for Tuesday. However, the advisory level will be promoted to an orange alert (meaning ‘be prepared’) from Wednesday onwards and remain in place until Saturday.
Amid the heavy rainfall, these are some probable impacts expected over the region:
· Poor visibility due to intense spells of rainfall, leading to traffic congestion
· Temporary disruption of traffic due to water logging on roads, uprooting of trees, and breaking of tree branches, leading to increased travel time
· Uprooting of trees may cause damage to power sector
· Possibility of damages to vulnerable structures and partial damages to kutcha houses and huts
· Flash floods due to intense spells of rainfall
· Waterlogging and flooding in many parts of low-lying areas
· Landslides, mudslides, landslip very likely
· Damage to standing crops and vegetables in the maturity stage
The IMD advises taking the following measures to safeguard oneself from these impacts:
· Follow traffic advisories issued, if any
· Avoid staying in vulnerable structures
· Propping of the vegetable pandals is recommended
· Take shelter during thunderstorm or lightning activities
· Provide mulch at the base of the crop to prevent soil and root damage
· Farmers must avoid working in the fields during thunderstorms or lightning strikes and ensure proper mechanisms to avoid runoff in case of rain
· Postpone sowing of seeds; if already sown, avoid water stagnation in the field and cover the seeded area with natural mulching materials like straw, farm residues etc.
· Be updated on latest weather forecasts
Meanwhile, the ongoing rainfall spell could also save Meghalaya from a potential power shortage. Owing to poor rainfall activity in May — Meghalaya recorded just 164.7 mm rain last month, suffering a 59% deficit — the water level of the Umiam reservoir in East Khasi Hills, a major source of hydropower in the hill state, had reached a historic low of 3,165 ft this month.
However, 2023’s first monsoon showers over the weekend raised the reservoir’s water levels considerably, and the rainfall activity in the months to come should resolve this issue for good for the rest of the monsoon season.
