Dry Months in India

1. Dry Months in India Presentation created by Robert L. Martinez Primary Content Source: Geography Alive!

2. The Mehrangarh Fort rises out of the desert like a towering giant, looking down on the “Blue City” of Jodhpur, India.

3. The city gets its nickname from the fact that most of the houses are painted blue. Some people say that this color is used to keep away mosquitoes.

5. In July 2002, nearly half of Jodhpur’s crops could not be planted because the summer monsoons were late. The worst drought in more than 40 years had begun.

6. Jodhpur sits at the eastern edge of the Thar Desert in northern India.

7. This region is a leading producer of cattle, spices, and grains.

8. It has a semiarid climate, with hot dry weather throughout most of the year.

9. The people living in and around Jodhpur are accustomed to their semiarid climate.

10. In most years, the city receives only about 14 inches of rain.

11. The average temperatures does not drop below 60 degrees Fahrenheit, even in the winter.

12. Summer monsoons bring much needed rains from June to September.

13. Approximately 80 percent of the people living around Jodhpur are farmers, but farming is difficult in this dry region.

14. The desert soil requires a great amount of water to produce crops, and farmers depend on the monsoons for that water.

15. The rains come late in some years.

16. Sometimes too little rain falls, resulting in crop failures and shortages of drinking water.

17. Wind can pick up the thin dust on the arid plains. These dust storms are common before the summer monsoons.

18. As people grow weak from hunger, disease spreads more easily.

19. The people of Jodhpur have learned to adapt to their semiarid climate.

20. Women must sometimes walk miles in scorching heat to fetch drinking water for their families.

21. In addition to growing crops, many farmers raise livestock, which can survive on native plants when crops fail.

22. To conserve water, some farmers have begun to use drip irrigation, in which water drips directly onto a plant’s roots.

23. With the use of this irrigation method, little water is wasted as runoff or to evaporation.

24. This careful use of water make sense in Jodhpur, where every drop counts.

25. Rains in Calcutta, India

26. Calcutta is a city of contrasts that has been described as both the “City of Joy” and the “Dying City.”

27. Its modern skyscrapers tower over the muddy Hooghly River, which is a branch of the Ganges River.

28. When the monsoons come during the month of June, the river floods.

29. After a rain shower of two, Calcutta finds itself knee-deep, or even neck-deep, in water.

31. Approximately 15 million people call Calcutta home. About a third of the city’s residents live in slums.

32. The city’s winters are dry and pleasant, with moderate winds blowing in from the north.

33. From June to September, the winds shift directions, as the moist monsoon air blows in from the Indian Ocean.

34. The monsoons can dump nearly 50 inches of rain on the city in only four months, and temperatures can soar to 100 degrees.

36. Clearly these summer rains present a great challenge to the people of Calcutta.

37. Calcutta floods easily. The city’s old canals overflow quickly when rainwater fills the streets, and buses and taxis can’t navigate the flooded roads.

38. Children must wade to school through waist-high water and spend the day in wet clothing.

39. Nevertheless, the monsoon rains are welcome because the farmers need the rain to water their crops.

40. The rains also provide relief from the sticky summer heat.

41. Calcutta has had to find ways to deal with the summer floods. In the past, a system of canals drained floodwater out of the city.

42. This system was later abandoned in favor of modern streets and sewers…

44. … but when too much rain falls, garbage clogs the old canals.

45. Standing water in the flooded streets breeds mosquitoes.

46. Diseases that are carried by mosquitoes, such as malaria, then spread quickly, causing people to sicken and die.

47. Today officials in Calcutta are looking at rebuilding the city’s antiquated canals to help with the flooding.

48. Meanwhile, sewer lines are being repaired so that they can carry more water during storms.

49. The city is also working to keep the river clear of debris so that more water can drain downstream during heavy rains.