These Indian Rivers Vanish for Months: Here’s Why They Return Only In Monsoon

By late May, the bed of the Vedavathi River in parts of central Karnataka lies bare. People walk across it on foot. Cattle graze where water flowed just months earlier. In nearby weekly markets, traders speak of rain as something everyone is waiting for. Then the southwest monsoon arrives. Rainwater rushes down from the hills and, within days, the dry channel begins to flow again. Farmers gather along its banks to judge how much water has come. Seed sellers report brisk business. Fishing nets, packed away through summer, return to use. Across India's peninsular belt, this cycle repeats itse...