Vadodara: The study carried out by M S University researchers has revealed that although the cumulative rainfall is on a decline, the intensity of rain witnessed in a single day has actually increased.IMD considers rain above 65mm, recorded in a day, as heavy rain.The study in which MSU team considered 79mm as measurement for extreme rainfall revealed that while both the intensity and magnitude of daily rainfall between 1961 and 2000 was less, the intensity of daily rainfall increased from 2001 onwards.In fact, between 2001 and 2011, there were 36 events of extreme rainfall that Vadodara witnessed – the highest in its 50 years history.“Between 1990 and 2000 there were 18 events of extreme rainfall which actually doubled in the period between 2001 and 2011,” said research scholar Chirayu Pandit.“The monsoon pattern is changing because of reduction in vegetation cover, expansion of the city leading to concretization of urban pockets and change in temperatures – all of which is human induced,” said Dr Sanskriti Mujumdar.“As the atmospheric temperature is increasing, hydrologic cycle is being affected resulting in change of rainfall pattern,” she said.In fact, the monthly minimum temperature has increased by 2 to 5 % between 1969 and 2005. Similarly, the monthly maximum temperature, especially in the months of November and December, has also increased by nearly 4 % between 1969 and 2005 resulting in hotter days.“At the same time, between 1969 and 2005, there was reduction of average 10 % in wind velocity,” she said, adding that the growth of high-rises and construction activities has led to decline in wind speed in urban pockets.Through the study, the researchers will also do projections of rainfall patterns till the end of this century – that is 2100.

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