The rainfall during August was 60 percent below normal in all districts in south interior Karnataka (SIK) except Chamarajanagar which experienced a deficiency of 46 percent.
Kodagu which is the catchment and source of the river Cauvery received only 100 mm of rainfall during August which is 82 percent below normal, according to Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC).
Chikkamagalur and Hassan, which are the catchment for Hemavathi, a key tributary of the Cauvery, also experienced prolonged dry spell during the month. Chikkamagalur received 85 mm of rainfall in August, which is 79 percent below normal while Hassan received 49 mm which is 75 percent below normal.
Mysuru and Mandya which constitute the heart of the Cauvery basin also suffered severe water stress due to monsoon failure in August. Mysuru received 33 mm of rainfall during the month which is 65 percent below normal for the period, while Mandya received only 29 mm of rainfall and it was 60 percent below normal. Ramanagara district received 35 mm which is 67 percent below normal, and Chamarajanagar received 38 mm, and this is 46 percent below normal and underscores the severity of the drought in all the districts.
The cumulative rainfall in the entire south interior Karnataka was 81 percent below normal and the districts in the region received 25 mm of rainfall against the normal of 88 mm. The cumulative rainfall in SIK from June 1 to September 2 was 18 percent below normal, and the districts received 196 mm of rain against a normal of 240 mm. The cumulative rainfall from June 1 to September 2 in Kodagu, Chikkamagalur, Hassan, and Mysuru was under “Deficient” category which means the rainfall was between 20 and 59 percent below normal
Even in cases of districts where the cumulative rainfall from June 1 to September 2 is categorised as ‘’Normal’’ as in Mandya, and Chamarajanagar the rainfall is 19 per cent below normal. This is because Indian Meteorological Department and the KSNDMC defines rains 19 percent above long period average to 19 percent below LPA as ‘’Normal’’.
State-wide scenario
If the shortfall is 60 percent or more it is categorised as ‘’Large Deficit’’, and 29 of the 31 districts came under this category in August. Only Vijaypura and Chamarajanagar were not under the ‘’Large Deficit’’ category. But the two districts nevertheless received rainfall that was 56 percent and 46 percent below normal, and hence came under the ‘’Deficient’’ category which is when the rainfall is 20 percent to 59 percent below normal, all of which underlines the water stress due to weak monsoon so far this year.
