Ans: Chief Characteristics of the Monsoons or Monsoon Rainfall
(a) The monsoons account for 90% of the rainfall received by India. Almost every part of the country except the east coast of Tamil Nadu receives the bulk of rainfall from the summer monsoons.
(b) The rainfall is neither continuous nor regular even in the wettest areas.
(c) Overall rainfall is not the same each year. The monsoons may be strong or weak in a particular year depending on the intensity and frequency of depression in the Bay of Bengal.
(d) The monsoon rains are not evenly distributed.
(e) A low pressure near the Himalayas may result in heavy rains in the hills causing floods in the plains or the plains may face prolonged dry spells.
(f) Sometimes, the monsoons may break too early or too late. There may be too long or too many breaks in the monsoons, which may retreat too early or too late. All these factors upset the agricultural operations making agriculture in India a mere gamble.
Sometimes, the effects of the monsoons or its uneven distribution create a number of problems. Like if there is too much rain it causes floods and havoc all around. On the other hand insufficient rain in a year or over some years results in draught, famine, food-insecurity, starvation and death.
