Rain gods shower bounty on South Karnataka, North records deficit

The Northeast monsoon has brought heavy rains to at least 10 districts in the South Interior Karnataka in recent weeks. However, North Karnataka still faces paucity of rains.

The Northeast monsoon, which began on October 1 and may last till the end of December, has brought rain to Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagar, Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Tumakuru, Chamarajanagar, Mandya, Chikkamagaluru and Udupi. These districts have received excess rains and water level in minor irrigation tanks has gone up, according to G S Srinivas Reddy, director of the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitor Centre.

The State on the whole has received 149 mm against the normal rain of 161 mm. But the distribution of the showers has not been uniform with 10 districts getting excess rain, eight districts getting deficit rain and an equal number getting scanty rain.

South Interior Karnataka, as a whole, recorded 233 mm of rain, which is 32 per cent more than normal. But in case of North Karnataka, the deficit was 53 per cent.

Reddy said standing crops in the districts which received heavy rain have been affected severely, while agriculture activities in the North have taken a beating due to scanty or no rain. Regarding the present weather, he said the depression over the Bay of Bengal would bring more rain for the next couple of days. This is the third time that the State is affected by cyclone in the last 15 days.