Monsoon is finally here, and that too four days ahead of the scheduled arrival (June 5). A day after heavy rains lashed the State, including Bangalore, the southwest monsoon entered Kerala and arrived in Karnataka on Saturday.
It advanced to some parts of coastal (Mangalore) and south-interior Karnataka (Mysore), bringing the much needed relief to anxious farmers.
“Even last year, the monsoon arrived in both States together on June 5, which is exceptional and rare. Normally, there will be a gap of a couple of days,” B. Puttanna, Director in charge of Meteorological Centre of the India Meteorological Department here, said. The monsoon could cover the entire State very shortly, he added.
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The southwest monsoon was vigorous over south-interior Karnataka and active over coastal Karnataka. Rainfall also occurred at most places over north-interior Karnataka, the Saturday’s weather bulletin said.
While the arrival of monsoon provided relief, the pre-monsoon showers in the State on Friday had some highs. Bangalore city recorded the second highest rainfall of 100 mm (10 cm) in 24 hours during June, coming close to the all-time high of 101.6 mm on June 16, 1891. The weatherman termed this as “exceptionally heavy spell”.
However, it brought misery to a large section, as trees were uprooted, houses were inundated and roads flooded, forcing the State government to convene an emergent review meeting that was chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Friday’s rain in Bangalore also claimed the life of a security guard, and the Chief Minister announced a compensation of Rs. 2 lakh to the family.
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Elsewhere in the State, Kurugodu in Bellary received very heavy rainfall (24 cm) on Friday. Raichur, Hassan, Koppal, Chickmagalur, Chitradurga, Bangalore Urban, and Ramanagaram districts also received heavy rainfall (7 to 12 cm of rainfall in 24 hours is termed as heavy). There were also reports of damage to crops in the districts on Friday.