BENGALURU: Over a fortnight since monsoon entered Karnataka, it has become weak in coastal and Malnad areas. Rainfall in these regions has been 40-50 per cent less than normal in the past week. This has triggered concerns of another water crisis if the situation doesn’t improve. Weak monsoon, especially in the prime catchment areas, is expected to remain the same till June 24, after which the South West monsoon is expected to strengthen, say meteorologists.
However, over the past one week, Malnad and coastal regions received only about half the average rainfall, with coastal receiving 48 per cent less and Malnad, 40 per cent.
In Kodagu, the cumulative rainfall for the monsoon season has been 40 per cent less. It’s a damper in South Interior Karnataka too, which saw almost 35 per cent less rainfall than normal. Only North Interior Karnataka has received more than average rainfall.
Inflows into reservoirs have been hit. Water levels in KRS and Hemavathy were below the levels recorded on the same date - June 19 - last year. Reservoir level at KRS was 67.95 feet, as compared to 72.42 feet last year. Live storage was 2 tmcft, as against 3.42 tmcft last year.
At Hemavathy, live storage was at 2.01 tmcft, as compared to 3.3 tmcft last year. The other small reservoirs in the Cauvery basin, Kabini and Harangi, fared slightly better. Live storage at Kabini was at a marginal 0.19 tmcft, as compared to zero last year. Similarly, at Harangi storage was 1.74 tmcft as against 1 tmcft last year.