Pre-monsoon rains for the period March 1 to May 21 covering Mysuru-Mandya-Kodagu-Hassan belt has been in excess of 100 per cent of the normal rainfall.
It is only in Chamarajanagar where the rainfall was 87 per cent above normal.
According to Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC), Mysuru has received 331.5 mm of rainfall which is 106 per cent above normal for the period March 1 to May 21 and Mandya has received 357.7 mm which is 187 per cent above normal.
Hassan has received 325.5 mm of rainfall (153 per cent above normal) while Kodagu district has received 387.5 mm of rainfall and it is 102 per cent above normal for the same period. Chamarajanagar district received 290.9 mm or 87 per cent above normal rainfall and this is for the second consecutive year that the entire region has higher than normal rains during the pre-monsoon season, according KSNDMC.
Rainfall, 60 per cent in excess of normal, is categorised as ‘Large Excess’ and hence the entire region is under ‘Large Excess’ category, as per the KSNDMC parlance.
Rainfall between 20 per cent to 59 per cent above normal is classified as ‘excess’ and Gundlupet taluk in Chamarajanagar and Saragur in Mysuru district were in this category. The rainfall was uniform and widespread across the region and hence there is not a single taluk with normal or below normal rains.
It is only since the last 48 hours that the rains have abated but the cumulative affect of pre-monsoon rains abetted by the cyclonic impact has reduced the maximum temperature which hovered around 30 degree Celsius.
While bountiful showers has spurred agricultural activity with farmers taking up sowing, there are also concerns of excessive moisture that could affect crop output.
A fallout of rains is the increase in inflow to the major dams especially in the Cauvery basin of the State. The rate of inflow at Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) reservoir was 16,184 cusecs as on Saturday and is reckoned to be high for summer season. The water level in the reservoir was 102.78 feet against the full reservoir level of 124.80 feet. With the South West monsoon likely to set in by the last week of May as forecast by the Indian Meteorological Department, the catchment area of the Cauvery in Kodagu is expected to receive rains again within the next 10 days to augment the inflow into the reservoir.
Hence, the irrigation department officials are confident that the KRS and other major reservoirs would get filled to the brim. The cumulative gross storage capacity of the KRS, Kabini, Harangi and Hemavathi is 114.57 thousand million cubic feet against which the storage as on Saturday was 60.96 tmc ft or 53 per cent of the installed capacity, according to KSNDMC.
