Question -
Answer -
(i) The south-west monsoons hit Tiruvanantapuram and Shillong around the first of June. Tiruvanantapuram receives rain from the Arabian Sea branch while Shillong receives rain from the Bay of Bengal branch. After causing rains in these regions, these two branches keep moving on to the other parts of the country (the Arabian Sea Branch moves from south-west to north-east, while the Bay of Bengal branch moves from north-east to north-west). As a result, these regions receive lesser rainfall in the months succeeding June.
(ii) The Arabian Sea branch of the south-west monsoons reaches Tiruvanantapuram around the first of June. It reaches Mumbai around the tenth of June. So, Tiruvanantapuram receives much of its rainfall in the month of June, while Mumbai receives much of its rainfall in the month of July.
(iii) Chennai lies on the leeward side of the Western Ghats, and far away from the western coast. The Arabian Sea branch causes greater rainfall on the western coastline, while the eastern branch passes over Bay of Bengal, on to the north-eastern part of the country. As a result, Chennai gets low rainfall from the south-west monsoons.
(iv) Shillong is enclosed by hills and mountains, which causes the Bay of Bengal branch of the south-west monsoons to accumulate in this region. This is the reason why this region experiences heavy rainfall. On the other hand, Kolkata does not lie in a hilly area. Thus, it receives lesser rainfall as compared to Shillong.
(v) The Bay of Bengal branch of the south-west monsoons reaches Shillong around the first of June. It gradually progresses from east to west. As a result, the amount of rainfall received by this region decreases from June to July. The monsoon winds reach Kolkata later than they arrive in Shillong. Hence, Kolkata receives more rainfall in July.
(vi) Due to the progressive decrease in the humidity of the monsoon winds, the amount of rainfall decreases from east to west in northern India. Delhi lies to the east of Jodhpur. Hence, the former receives more rain than the latter.