IMD: Monsoon revival in state due to cyclonic circulation, strong winds

Maqsood Maniyar | NT

Bengaluru: India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that recent rains and revival of the monsoon was due to a multitude of factors.

The factors include a cyclonic circulation and an associated low pressure area in the Bay of Bengal, besides a trough and strong westerly winds. Bengaluru residents were surprised with the 88.9 mm of rain that battered the city on the night of August 31 and in the wee hours of September 1.

That was nearly half of the rainfall that is expected for September, which is around 20 cms. According to IMD, Hiriyur town in Chitradurga district had received 12 cm (120 mm) of rain in the same duration.

Meanwhile, Hidkal Dam in Belagavi district and Maddur town in Mandya district received 11 cms of rain each.

“Monsoon trough is now coming to the south. It has come back to its normal position. It had gone to the foothills of the Himalayas. Now, there is a revival of the monsoon. Secondly, a low pressure area has formed in the North West Bay of Bengal and an associated cyclonic circulation is extending up to 5.8 kilometres. So that is moving inside and areas such as Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha are getting rainfall,” an IMD scientist said.

“Thirdly, there is a clear zone around 19 degrees latitude, which is bringing good rainfall to NIK (North Interior Karnataka). For coastal Karnataka also, three to four days of good rainfall is predicted because of strong westerly winds. Moreover, monsoon is reviving in Kerala as well,” he added.

He pointed out that coastal Karnataka districts had even received yellow alerts. IMD classifies yellow alert as heavy rainfall, which is anywhere between 64.5 mm to 115.5 mm.

Orange alert is regarded as very heavy rainfall, meaning anything between 115.6 to 204.4 mm. The red alert is sounded for extremely heavy rainfall, which is more than 204.5 m of rain.

Rains reducing deficit The scientist said that rains in September would bring down the deficit of rainfall in dry districts but one should not expect the deficit to go down to zero in these places.

“The deficit in Kodagu (minus 46 per cent), Kolar (minus 36 per cent), Hassan (minus 42 per cent) and Ramanagara (minus 42 per cent) is quite a lot. It may come a little bit. It may come down to 25 to 30 per cent but it cannot become zero,” he said.

He was also not sure as to how much of an effect the drought-like conditions would have on Karnataka’s economy. There have been fears that compensation for farmers resulting from crop loss would be an additional burden on the exchequer.

The Karnataka government is mooting declaring 75 taluks in the state as drought-hit.