The moderate to heavy rain that lashed Mysuru and surrounding regions last week raised hopes of a normal pre-monsoon rains this year.
The region has been dealing with two consecutive drought periods and has now received a reprieve from the water stress that impacted agricultural activity during 2015 and 2016 resulting in crop failure.
The pre-monsoon showers have given an impetus to agricultural work that commenced in the rural hinterland. Farmers have taken to tilling the land in preparation for sowing short-term crops that can be harvested before the onset of southwest monsoon in June.
According to statistics by the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC), the rainfall in Mysuru, Mandya, Kodagu and Hassan districts has been uniform and widespread though parts of Chamarajanagar district experienced deficit rain so far.
Mysuru district as a whole has received 36.95 mm of rain against a normal of 17.30 mm in the past week. The cumulative rainfall for the period April 1 to 23 is 76.51 mm against a normal of 40.10 mm, which is an excess of 91%.
The rainfall pattern in the last week across the district indicates that it was uniform and widespread with heavy rain in parts of the rural hinterland that will be a boon for agriculture.
While the rain till Thursday helped provide a marginal reprieve from the scorching heat with temperatures reaching 37°C, subsequent dry days till Sunday resulted in the temperature inching towards the 35°C mark again.
Hence, there are concerns that though the pre-monsoon showers have arrived on time this year, the prolonged dry-spell could negate the benefits of above normal rain experienced across the taluks so far. There were timely pre-monsoon showers last year as well but this did not gain vigour and the rains fizzled out leading to crop failure. Ultimately, the failure of southwest monsoon led to the unprecedented drought.
All taluks received above-normal rainfall in April
The pre-monsoon showers that lashed Mysuru and the interior regions so far this year have been uniform and widespread. As a result, all the taluks have received above-normal rainfall in April when compared to the long-term average for the month.
While H.D. Kote received 31.9 mm of rainfall during the week against a normal of 17.3 mm, the cumulative rains from April 1 to 23 was 72.33 mm against a normal of 46.45 mm, as per Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) statistics.
Likewise, Hunsur received 31.9 mm last week against a normal of 17.3 mm while the cumulative rainfall for the month is 66 mm against a normal of 41.9 mm. K.R. Nagar received 43.5 mm of rainfall for the week against a normal of 13.1 mm while the cumulative rainfall for the month of April so far has been 141 mm against a normal of 85.4 mm.
Mysuru taluk received 44 mm rainfall during the week against a normal of 17 mm while the cumulative rainfall for the period of April 1 to 23 is 91 mm against a normal of 34.5 mm.
The cumulative rainfall for Nanjangud Periyapatana and T. Narsipura taluks for the period of April 1 to 23 is also above normal. For Nanjangud, it is 62.1 mm against a normal of 39.3 mm. Periyapatana received 111.3 mm against a normal of 34.8 mm and T. Narsipura received 51.9 mm against a normal of 38.2 mm of rainfall for April 1 to 23, as per updated statistics from the KSNDMC.
Uniform showers across neighbouring districts
The timely onset of pre-monsoon rains in South Karnataka was not confined to Mysuru district alone and the showers were widespread and uniform across the neighbouring districts as well.
During the period of April 1 to 21, Mandya received 51.6 mm of rainfall against a normal of 27.8 mm, while Chamarajanagar received 38.6 mm of rainfall, just 2 mm short of the normal of 40.2 mm.
Likewise, Hassan received 31.8 mm of rainfall as against a normal of 29.9 mm and Kodagu received 71.2 mm against a normal of 51.5 mm for the period of April 1 to 21. However, these rains will not augment the inflow to reservoirs. The water levels of major reservoirs – KRS and Kabini – are hovering below last year’s level during the corresponding period.
While the water level at Kabini stood at 2252.70 ft last year, against the full reservoir level (FRL) of 2284 feet, it is 2249.64 ft this year. The KRS level this year is 73.49 ft against the FRL of 124.80 ft. It’s water level in the corresponding period last year was 80.62 ft.
