Effect of steel mills on rainfall at distantly located stations

Abstract

Based on the target-control concept as in the design of conventional cloud seeding experiment, the monthly rainfall data of February and August of four raingauge stations, situated from 100 to 200 km from the Jamshedpur-Burnpur steel mills complex, have been analysed for the four successive 21-year periods commencing from 1872, Mean period decreases ranging upto 63 per cent in the February rainfall and upto 27 per cent  in the August rainfall have been indicated at the target stations since the establishment of the steel industry in the region, Application of statistical tests on the ratio values of rainfall of the target to that of the control has pointed out that changes indicated in the February rainfall, in some cases, are significant, It has been argued that the process of rain development, characteristic of the winter clouds in the region, could be sensitive to effluents from the steel mills.