Pre-monsoon rain in Old Mysore region cheers farmers, offers respite from heat

MYSURU: The old Mysuru region, including the Malnad areas, this year, got good pre-monsoon rainfall which will help farmers prepare for monsoon activities. Good rainfall also indicates that there would be no drinking water crisis in rural areas this summer.
The pre-monsoon rain pattern is calculated starting from March 1. According to experts, the state received 50 per cent to 60 per cent excess rainfall this pre-monsoon period when sowing was completed on around 2.5 lakh hectares. The sowing target for this period is 5 lakh hectares.
According to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) data, south interior Karnataka comprising old Mysuru received 63.4 per cent excess pre-monsoon rainfall until May 7.
The normal rainfall between March 1 and May 7 is 68 mm. This region received 111.1 mm. Mysuru district received 159 mm of rain in this period, the highest among the districts in this region. Mandya got 153 mm and Chamarajanagar recorded 136 mm of rainfall.
Four Malnad districts received 72.6 mm of excess rain — Kodagu (173 mm), Chikkamagalur (146 mm), Hassan (139 mm), and Shivamogga (133 mm).
Most parts of the Mysuru district saw good rainfall last week. On Saturday night in Hunsur town, over 20 electric poles and two transformers were damaged in the rainfall as trees got uprooted.
According to progressive farmer Honnur Prakash from Chamarajanagar, good pre-monsoon rainfall “will help us get ready for the upcoming monsoon cultivation”.
G Srinivasa Reddy, the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) senior consultant, said this year’s pre-monsoon rainfall was good across the state. “The sowing target for this period is 5 lakh hectares. Now sowing is complete in over 2.5 lakh hectares,” he said.
He also informed that the main reason for the good pre-monsoon rainfall is active rain systems and low-pressure areas in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. He also stated that cyclonic circulations also ensured good rainfall.