Cut the Crap

“El Chunao : Monsoon and Mandates” #GS-1

#TimesOfIndia

As forecasts
from the World Meteorological
organisation signal the arrival of El Nino
it's clear that India faces more than
mere climatic changes

Photo credit- NOAA climate.gov

El Niño-

El Nino refers to a band

of warmer water
spreading from west to east in the equatorial
ocean
Pacific
It causes unusual
warming of surface
waters in the eastern tropical Pacific ocean
Impact of El Niño on economic and political history of India-

Impact of El niño During the British Raj-

A combination El Nino induced droughts and

of
colonial mis management resulted in
government
devastating famines that killed millions Examples

The Great
famine of 1876 78
coincided with El Nino
strong year
Photo credit- BBC

the substantial economic

Triggered first
colonial government
critique of by
Dadabhai Naoroji and R c Dutt

Prompted W Wedderburn and A O Hume to establish

Indian National Congress INC as a
platformfor
Indians to voice their opinions
 El Nino induced
drought of
1918 led to Kheda
Satyagraha
which elevated MahatmaGandhi's

profile and made Sardar Patel

a household name
Photo credit- BCCL

Impact of El Niño after independence-

El Nino's has continued to shape the

influence
political and economic landscape
of post
independence India as well Examples

Gree Revolution was the devastating

triggered by
1964 65 and 1965 66
droughts of
1979 El Nino induced drought contracted the

Indian
economy by more than 51
The
fallout of this political upheaval
was BJP in 1980
founding of
Expected Impact of El Niño in the year 2023-24-

Impact on wheat production-

El Nino in combination with

global warming
means that the winter 2023 could be
of
warmer than usual which could impact
wheat production

Impact on kharif crop-

El Nino persists the

If
2024 could
kharif crops
be at risk as well

Heat waves- Photo credit- Telegraph India

Higher temperatures will exacerbate heatwave

impacts and put immense pressure on the
electricity grid and health infrastructure
Conclusion Weather has played an important
role in shaping political
fate in India Therefore
the government's response to the challenges posed

by El Nino could be a critical determinant of

public perception and voting patterns