Over 2.9 lakh hectares of rabi crops are estimated to have been destroyed by the early hailstorm last week. (Express Photo)
THE HAILSTORM in the second week of February, affecting standing crops across 1.85 lakh hectares in Maharashtra, was the severest, most widespread and potentially the most damaging to crops since a similar event in 2014.
According to J R Kulkarni, former scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) and an expert in hail and cloud seeding, such consecutive events of hail experienced since 2014 in the state calls for a detailed and serious study by meteorologists, solely aimed at attempting to minimise the loss of farm produces. “Every year since 2014, Maharashtra has been experiencing hailstorms of varying intensities between February and March. This needs to be seen with utmost seriousness as it can adversely affect the agriculture sector of the state,” said Kulkarni, who was speaking on ‘Recent hailstorm in Marathwada and Vidarbha — Causes, Forecast, Hail Suppression and Impact on coming Monsoon’ organised by the India Meteorology Society (Pune chapter) on Tuesday.
The senior scientist also highlighted how in the last five years, whenever there were instances of hail reported in central India regions, particularly in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, the countryside monsoon has been below normal.
“Though there is no direct link between hail and the Indian monsoon known so far, we cannot rule out such frequent occurrences of hail over the region, which may be an indicator of a large-scale atmospheric phenomenon that may be changing rapidly,” he said.
Studies in the past, mainly undertaken after the severe hail incident in 2014 in Maharashtra when hailstorm was reported for 20 days between mid-February and mid-March, have revealed Maharashtra was becoming prone to hail.
Dhule, Nandurbar, Washim, Beed, Jalna, Buldhana and many neighbouring districts in Vidarbha and Marathwada were severely hit, where standing crops, nearing their harvest stage, of orange, wheat, gram and some vegetables were lost.
“The easterly winds blowing from the Bay of Bengal appear to be more moist and when they interact with cold northerly winds, this confluence is observed to be occurring mostly in central India, especially in east Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Marathwada and some parts of Madhya Maharashtra. Though such hailstorms, triggered due to air mass interactions, can be predicted in advance by three to four days, the area they cover can run into hundreds of kilometres, thereby increasing the scope of damage,” he said.
Yet another peculiarity of hail triggered by air-mass difference can occur during any time of the day and the ice particles take longer time to dissolve, thereby doubling the damage to crops, pointed out Kulkarni. In the February 11 and 14 incident this year, hailstorm struck at 7.30 am and lasted for close to 20 minutes.
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