This story is from August 22, 2019

Tricky rain forecast: Bhakra Beas Management Board turns to IIT

With the high rate of rainfall ahead of widespread flooding last week startling Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), it is looking forward to findings of a research project on climate change-related monsoon predication being jointly conducted by its climate control cell in tandem with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Ropar, to prepare itself for such downpour in future.
Tricky rain forecast: Bhakra Beas Management Board turns to IIT
The move has come after excess water released from the Bhakra Dam resulted in flooding in low-lying areas along the Satluj downstream
CHANDIGARH: With the high rate of rainfall ahead of widespread flooding last week startling Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), it is looking forward to findings of a research project on climate change-related monsoon predication being jointly conducted by its climate control cell in tandem with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Ropar, to prepare itself for such downpour in future.

"We had set up a climate control cell two years back and have made significant progress. But we at BBMB are professionals and engineers. There came a stage when we saturated our potential and passed on inputs to IIT to study the monsoon trends for year 2100. We hope to get results in a year to understand better the emerging monsoon trends," BBMB chairman D K Sharma said in reply to a question by TOI.
Earlier, Indian Metrological Department (IMD) regional director Surinder Pal said rate of monsoon was high and runoff so much that it inundated not just the Satluj but even smaller rivulets. "Because of climate change, long term prediction of monsoons is becoming very difficult. Now the trend is of very heavy downpour over a short span of time. It is a challenge for all of us. But the BBMB and IMD took the necessary steps to deal with such intense rainfall," he said.
Tackling silt in dam is another area for which the BBMB has turned to researchers. "Since the 1960s, the dam is now filled with 24% silt. There is a view that such deposits are good for soil fertility. So this is another area for which we tied up with IIT and asked them to find out if the silt can be used for industrial or agricultural purposes. Samples have been taken from 63 spots up to Bilaspur. The project will also look at the catchment areas in Himachal so that the state government can be approached to tackle silt. Besides, we have set up a target of planting 6 lakh samplings in the hill state and 1.5 lakh trees have already been planted," said Sharma.
Pal added that for the coming weeks there is no forecast of major rainfall till September 10, though there could be showers in the Himachal areas. "It was unique scenario due to combination of monsoon and western disturbances that spread over areas of Punjab and Himachal. The prediction process is technology-driven but because of the climate changes, it is now difficult to predict rains, say ten days in advance. There are changes in the weather systems. The window period seems to have shrunk to a few days," he said.
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About the Author
Vibhor Mohan

Vibhor Mohan is Special Correspondent with The Times of India’s Punjab Bureau at Chandigarh. He holds post-graduate degrees in Mass Communication and English and has nearly 15 years of experience, having covered important stations in Punjab. He covers news concerning Punjab politics, NRI affairs and the power sector, besides specializing in writing on architecture, especially on the works of Le Corbusier, the man who gave India its first designed city – Chandigarh.

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