At least 240 people have died this year in the mountainous region as landslides and flash floods triggered by heavy rains buried homes and destroyed crops and infrastructure. Seasonal monsoon showers are vital for India's $3-trillion economy, bringing nearly 70% of the rain the country needs to water farms and refill reservoirs and aquifers. But the monsoon's convergence with a low-pressure weather system in the Himalayas in recent years has caused extremely heavy rains, something that scientists and officials have blamed on rising temperatures. Rains battered the two states following the convergence of the monsoon system with Western Disturbances, a weather system that originates in the Mediterranean Sea and moves east, bringing moisture-laden winds that cause winter rain and snow in the Himalayas. "The most significant change is that instead of having moderate rains spread out through the monsoon season, we have long dry periods intermittent with short spells of heavy rains," Koll said.

---

Persons: Stringer, Kuldeep Srivastava, Rains, Dimri, Roxy Mathew Koll, Koll, Shivam Patel, Mike Harrison Organizations: REUTERS, India Meteorological, HP, Indian Institute of Geomagnetism, Indian, Meteorology, Thomson Locations: Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India, New Delhi, Uttarakhand, India's