Most districts affected by floods and landslips over the past few weeks recorded very heavy rainfall, much above the normal for August.
While Belagavi and Dharwad recorded a whopping 164% and 126% more then normal rainfall the past month, Kodagu, Udupi and Chikkamagaluru also recorded much higher than normal rainfall.
“There was a wind shear zone formation over this region extending from Southern Maharashtra and over North Karnataka that led to heavy rainfall over this region,” said C.S. Patil, director, Meteorological Centre, Bengaluru. A shear zone is a zone filled with opposing winds at a high altitude that leads to rain bearing systems.
But, overall IMD data shows that some districts such as Kodagu and Chikkamagaluru had a marginally deficient rainfall this season – recording a deficient by nearly half than expected in July, indicating an irregular pattern of rainfall in these regions. Districts like Bengaluru Urban, Chitradurga and Mandya that got more than normal rainfall this monsoon season, have recorded deficient rainfall in August by a large margin. Mandya, which recorded 33% more than normal rainfall this season, recorded a deficient of 41% in August. Bengaluru Urban district recorded a deficient of 51% in August but received 19% more than normal rainfall this season.
“These variations within a season are common in the State and are a function of creation of low-pressure areas and shear zones,” Mr. Patil said. The IMD has forecast good rain across the State over the next five days and has predicted that the deficiency will be made up this month. Farmers are happy due to the good rain this monsoon. The ongoing sowing for rabi crop is expected to reach record proportions this year. “Usually, rabi sowing in the State is around 75%, but it has already crossed 90% and is expected to cover all land, which will be a record. The pandemic saw many youths returning to the villages and taking up sowing. Good rain has only encouraged them more,” said Kodihalli Chandrashekhar, president, KRRS.
However, he said the government is found wanting in compensating for crop loss in the recent floods and warned that there may be a severe fertiliser shortage as well in the offing. “There is a bumper crop of toor dal in North Karnataka and the harvest of the rabi crop is expected to be good too. The government must initiate advance measures like MSP procurement to ensure there is no price crash,” he said.