Heavy rain ruins crops, destroys homes

Crops on about a thousand hectares have been damaged in the Bellary-Tungabhadra region followed by 108 hectares in Dharwad.

Though Bangalore city has received 224 mm of rain, Jala hobli on the outskirts of the City has received a mere 25 mm of rain. Kengeri has received 225 mm, while Hoskote 200 mm.
According to Karnataka State Natural Disaster Management Cell (KSNDMC) the highest rainfall recorded in the City was in 2001 - 300 mm.

The KSNDMC registered a record rainfall of 50.7 mm in the period between April 7 and April 24. This is much higher than the normal rainfall of 19.6 mm that is received during this time of the year.

“The south interior Karnataka has received a rainfall of 66.9 mm against the normal rainfall of 24.2 mm. The north interior Karnataka has received a rainfall of 35.6 mm against the average of 13.9 mm,” said V S Prakash, Director, KSNDMC.

The Malnad and coastal areas too have recorded excess rain, measuring 67.8 mm and 46 mm, while the average rainfall is 29.4 mm and 17.9 mm respectively.

Of the total 176 taluks, 161 of them have received excess rainfall and eight have received average rain, while seven taluks have recorded below normal rain. “Raichur and Devadurga in Raichur District, Raibag, Chikkodi, Belgaum and Bailhongal in Belgaum District and Kundapur in Udupi District have recorded below normal rainfall,” said Dr Prakash.

Of the hoblis in the State, 95 have received excess rain, while 31 received normal rainfall. However, as many as 28 hoblis have received deficit rain, while 38 hoblis have received scanty rainfall. Moreover, 82 hoblis have received no rainfall, he said.

Lightning kills two women

Ankola (Uttara Kannada), dhns:

Two women were killed as lightning struck them at Beradi village of the taluk on Monday evening.

The incident occurred when Sunanda Ganapathi Gaonkar (45) and Shankari Huliya Gowda (55) took shelter from rain under a tree on their way home after work in the fields.