And more than often unpredictable. But now the very definition of what is ‘normal’ is changing. The fact is that Indian monsoon is BECOMING more extreme and more variable. In this way, the new normal is flood at the time of drought.

This year, even as 40% of the districts in India face prospects of drought, close to 25% districts have had heavy rainfall of more than 100 mm in just a matter of hours. This year, even as the overall AVERAGE rainfall in the country is below normal – deficient – large parts have RECEIVED much more than their share of rain and worse, this rain came down in a matter of hours.

Chandigarh, a city of open parks, was recently submerged in water. It had deficient rainfall TILL August 21, and then it got 115 mm of rain in just 12 hours. It drowned. In other words, it got roughly 15% of its annual monsoon rain in just a few hours. Bengaluru hardly had any rain and then it poured. It got 150 mm of rain in just about a day, which is close to 30 per cent of its annual monsoon rain. It is no wonder that the city drowned. MOUNT Abu got over half its annual monsoon rain in two days. Then Mumbai got some 300 mm of rain – some 15% of its annual in just hours.