It has been at least three days since most parts of Karnataka saw any sunshine, and according to the Meteorological Centre the blanket of monsoon clouds is only about to get thicker and rainfall more intense as the weekend approaches.
The surge in monsoon activity over the past three days is due to a trough of low pressure in the Arabian Sea stretching from the south Gujarat coast to Karnataka. Parts of Uttara Kannada and Udupi received as much as 12 cm of rainfall on Thursday. Even areas in arid north interior Karnataka, including Gulbarga, Bidar and Raichur, received significant rainfall, between 6 cm and 9 cm rainfall.
But far from abating, the rainfall and wind-speeds are only going to intensify over the weekend as a low pressure system is forming over the Bay of Bengal, said B. Puttanna, Director of the Meteorological Centre. “We can expect rainfall to cross 25 cm and wind-speed to reach nearly 60 kmph in coastal Karnataka from Saturday onwards,” he said.
House collapse
In Dakshina Kannada four houses collapsed in the past three days — two in Mangalore city and two in Puttur taluk. A landslide late on Tuesday in Bantwal taluk cut off connectivity between Peruvai and Manila villages for more than 24 hours. The district received cumulative rainfall of 208.54 mm in the past three days alone.
Boon to farmers
To farmers in the State, the rainfall has come as a boon. In Shimoga district, tanks and ponds have been rejuvenated by the incessant downpour and the inflow from the catchment areas of Tunga, Bhadra and Sharavathy has increased considerably. This has given an impetus to farming activities such as paddy transplanting and sowing of maize and ragi. The inflow into the Linganmakki reservoir has increased to 19,063 cusec and the water-level in the dam stood at 1,764.80 ft on Thursday against the maximum height of 1,819 ft.
As for Bangalore city, the rainfall might have been insignificant, but the cloud cover has brought with it a distinct nip in the air. Temperatures have fallen consistently over the week — from a maximum of 27 degrees Celsius on Monday to 24 degrees on Thursday. The early mornings have been a chilly 20 degrees over the past three days.
Deficit
Despite the widespread downpour, the State has recorded 7 per cent less rainfall than what is normal for this time of the monsoon. However, “if the rainfall continues like this the State will make up the deficit,” said Mr. Puttanna.
Heavy rain and thundershowers have been forecast in most places in coastal Karnataka and many places in interior Karnataka over the next two days. Winds raging up to 55 kmph are also likely off the Karnataka coast, the forecast says.
