RAINFALL AND TEMPERATURE TRENDS IN INDIA

An investigation was carried out to identify trends in the rainfall an d temperature regimes of the Ganga basin in India and in India as a wh ole. Long-term data on the monsoon and annual rainfall and the average annual temperature for India as a whole, and on the monsoon rainfall, number of rainy days and annual maximum temperature of the Ganga basi n were analysed. The trends in these data were detected using non-para metric methods. The results of this study showed that the rainfall var iables had a decreasing trend and the temperature had an increasing tr end. These trends were observed to have begun around the second half o f the 1960s, and have implications for the Indian economy. As the Indi an economy continues to be based on agriculture, water resource manage ment for irrigation plays a vital part in its growth. Present methods of design and management for water resource systems assume the climati c regime to be stationary. If indeed the climatic regime has changed, it will be necessary to develop new management approaches which consid er this change.