As thunderstorms play havoc in the northern part of the country, the climate experts have predicted heavy downpour in the interior districts of Tamil Nadu as well for the next few days.
And for Coimbatore district, heavy downpour coupled with winds has been predicted in the next 48 hours. The banana farmers in Coimbatore specifically have been warned of high velocity winds and have been advised to set up casuarina trees to cut wind speed and erect poles to support the banana plants.
The district has recorded high wind speeds of 12-15km per hour in the last few days. This is likely to go up in the coming days. And by June and July, the wind velocity is likely to only increase, said S Panneerselvam, professor and head of the Agro climate research centre of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.
Head of southern regional meteorological centre S B Thampi said that it is not just the northern part. “There is a depression in the Arabian sea and the Indian ocean. As it moves to the land, several districts have been experiencing heavy rainfall at nights. This will continue for a few more days,” he said. There will be heavy downpour due to convection and it will cause huge damage especially to crops, he added.
Experts said that since the sand in the north India was dry and loose, it turns into dust storms. But down south, the winds gather moisture and also gain velocity. “But the effect will be in a few villages and districts only,” said Thampi. But the officials said they did not have any observatories to state the actual increase in the wind speed over the years.
Panneerselvam said that banana farmers should ensure that they grow trees around their farmland to cut wind speed. Also, support can be used to give strength to the stems. “But all said, if the wind speed crossed 30-40kmph, the plants will get damaged,” he said. He also suggested that farmers form trenches around crops to harvest rain water.