Pre-monsoon showers bring joy and misery in Kalyana Karnataka, central districts

The unseasonal rains, coupled with high-velocity winds, continued to lash in Kalyana Karnataka, central and south Karnataka, on Monday, raising hopes of a good harvest for the farmers reeling under drought and bringing down the mercury.

However, at several places, the incessant rain and gusty winds have damaged acres of crops and hit the power and road infrastructure badly.While the weather remained cloudy in most parts of Mumbai Karnataka on Monday, Kalyana Karnataka districts - Raichur, Yadgir and Kalaburagi - experienced sharp showers on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday. 

In Raichur city, heavy overnight rains drenched hundreds of paddy bags at Rajendra Gunj on APMC premises. Showers exposed the drainage system in the city as rainwater mixed with sewage flooded several low-lying areas and roads. Raichur city recorded 93.6 mm of rain on Sunday night while Yaragera and Yermarus registered 86 mm and 78.2 mm respectively.

The intermittent rains in the last few days have improved soil moisture in Kalyana Karnataka districts enabling farmers to prepare their land for kharif season. Govindappa Basalingappa (26), a shepherd from Vibhutihalli in Shahpur taluk, died of lightning strike in the small hours of Monday.

Acres of banana, paddy and betal leaf crops in Toranagallu and Harapanahalli regions of undivided Ballari district were damaged in the rain, accompanied by strong winds. 

Central districts - Chitradurga, Tumakuru and undivided Kolar - continued to experience intermittent showers. The compound wall of the government high school in Chikkanayakanahalli, Tumakuru district, caved in following sharp showers late Sunday night. Turuvekere, Sira and Huliyar also witnessed spells of good rainfall on Sunday night. The water bodies in the parched taluks clocked good inflows following the overnight showers.

Jagalur town and surrounding areas in Chitradurga district experienced the first rain of the season on Sunday night. A brief spell of sharp rain flooded the service road of the national highway. Tile roof sheets of the Akanur government school were blown away in the storm while a sericulture shed at Kalledevarapur collapsed, Tahsildar Chandrashekar Naik told DH.

Many parts of the old Mysuru region, including Hassan and Chamarajanagar districts, received moderate to heavy rainfall on Monday. The vehicular traffic on Shiradi Ghat was hit for over two hours after a full-grown tree blocked the road. Yesaluru in Sakleshpur taluk recorded 93 mm of rain while Hirisave in Channarayapatna received 58 mm.Chamarajanagar and Yelandur taluks also continued to see intermittent rain.

Several parts of Dakshina Kannada, including Puttur, Uppinangady and Kadaba areas, experienced heavy rain since Sunday night.

Two boys met a water grave in Pandari river near Joida in Uttara Kannada. Afhaan Khan (12) Mubarak Pathan (11), both residents of Ramnagar in the taluk drowned when they ventured into the Pandari waters near Nandrekar bridge.