Annual report of the Sanitary Commissioner with the Government of India.

  • India. Sanitary Commissioner.
Date:
[1898]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report of the Sanitary Commissioner with the Government of India. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    20/526 (page 4)
    West and Central Bengal, Orissa, the Circars and the east of the North-Western Provin¬ ces, The nights were very hot in Upper India from the 9th to the 13th. The mean pressure of the Indian area averaged 0’025 below the normal. In Upper Assam, West Bengal, Chota Nagpur, the North-Western Provinces, Bundel- khand and Baghelkhand the air was slightly damper than usual. Over the remainder of India the humidity was below the normal, more particularly in the Punjab and the Deccan. There were two very dry periods in North-West India during the month, viz.} the 1st to the 8th and the ] 8th to the 26th. There was a large deficiency of cloud over parts of the Punjab, Rajputana and the North-Western Provinces. There was some delay in the establishment of the monsoon on the West Ccast. Moderate rain fell from the 6th to the 8tti and heavy daily rain from the gth to the 18th. The monsoon current advanced quickly from the West Coast across the Deccan and the central parts of the country to Rajputana and the North-Western Provinces. At the same time an advance of monsoon winds was taking place from the Bay, and a slight cyclonic storm which advanced from the Bay to North Bengal between the 12th and the 20th gave heavy and prolonged rain to Bengal, Chota Nagpur and Bihar between the 16th and 20th. Subsequently a break in the rains set in. It commenced in North- West India on the 19th, extended to nearly all parts of India by the 25th and lasted till the 27th. On the 28th rain recommenced in Northern India and was fairly general by the 30th. The month's rainfall was in defect over Burma, Assam, the Bengal Hills, the central parts of the country, Rajputana, Sind and Madras, about normal in Bengal and the East Punjab, and heavier than usual in the North-Western Provinces, Bom¬ bay and Gujarat. On the 17th, 18th and 19th of June falls of between 8 and 17 inches were received in 24 hours in West Bengal, while on the 14th, 15th and 16th heavy downpours were recorded in the Ratnagiri district of Bombay as well as very heavy rain on the summit of the West Ghats. July.—The rainfall during the month was unevenly distributed, but taking the whole country into account was only slightly below the normal. The variations of the mean temperature conditions of the month were mainly determined by this uneven distribution of rainfall. The mean temperature of the month was below the normal over Upper Burma, the Assam Valley, South Bengal, Orissa, North Madras, the Central Provinces, the North-Western Provinces and the Punjab (except the south-west), and was in excess over the remainder of India. The variations were generally small in amount. The mean maximum temperatures were below the normal over nearly the whole of the Punjab, the North-Western Provinces, the east of the Central Provinces, Orissa, North Madras, Hyderabad, parts of Bengal, Upper Assam and parts of Burma. Tne variations were considerable over the Punjab, Rajputana and South Madras, and amounted to —5°*3 at Ludhiana, +50,o at Sambhar and +4°-6 at Negapatam. High day temperatures were recorded between the 4th and 8th and between the 25th and 27th. The mean minimum or night temperature was below the normal over the Punjab, Upper Assam, South-West Bengal, Orissa, North Madras and the East and Central districts of the Central Provinces, and above the normal over the remainder of India. The variations were largish in Raj¬ putana and South Madras and amounted to + 4°*i at Bikaner and + 20i5 at Salem. The mean pressure of the whole Indian land area was o’oi8 below the normal. The variations of the mean humidity conditions of the month were small, but the air was slightly drier than usual in West Bengal, North Bengal, Rajputana and South India. The cloud amount was less than usual over Southern India, but was normal or in slight excess elsewhere. The monsoon currents were fairly steady during the month, and there were three periods of general heavy rain determined by three storms which were developed during the month. The first period lasted from the 2nd to the 13th, when general rain accom¬ panied or followed a storm which passed from the head of the Bay to Sind. The second period lasted from the 14th to the 24th, and accompanied and followed a storm which appeared over Central Bihar and disappeared over Sind. The third period lasted from the 23rd to the end of the month. A cyclonic storm formed off the North Madras coast on the 23rd and broke up in the Deccan on the 26th, after which monsoon winds extended all over the country giving moderate to heavy rain. The total rainfall of the month exhi¬ bited an uneven distribution. There was a deficiency of more than 25 per cent, in Upper Burma, Central Bengal, the west of the North-Western Provinces, the south and central divisions of Madras and Mysore, and an excess of more than 20 per cent, in the east of the North-Western Provinces, North Oudh, the south, central, submontane, north and west