No end is in sight to Karnataka’s drought woes: it has just witnessed the driest October in 50 years.
The month could also go down as the driest ever in recorded history, but weather experts say they need time to confirm it.
This is a double whammy for Karnataka, already reeling under a failed Southwest monsoon (June to September).
The state, which had a run-in with Tamil Nadu over the sharing of Cauvery river water last month, is facing its sixth consecutive year of drought.
The Northeast monsoon usually arrives in October, and its advent has been far from encouraging. The dry spell has resulted in the state government declaring 110 taluks 'drought-hit.’
Twenty-nine more taluks will be included in the list, taking the number up to 139.
According to data compiled by the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC), the state recorded only 29 mm rainfall, as compared to the average 136 mm in October. That is a deficiency of 78%.
"According to our records, it is the driest October in the last 50 years. We are now compiling the data for the last 100 years and it looks like it could to be driest October ever,” G S Srinivasa Reddy, director of the centre, told DH.
The previous most driest October was in 1988, which witnessed a rainfall deficiency of 70%.
October 1976 and 1986 recorded deficiency of 65% and 58%, respectively.
The only district to be blessed with above average rainfall in October was Bidar, which received 15% above normal. Reddy pointed out that during the Southwest monsoon the state as a whole recorded 688 mm, as against the normal 839 mm. The deficit comes to 18%.
"However, what has been alarming is the drastic deficiency during August, September and October.
The dry spell has resulted in soil losing its moisture, and agriculture being severely affected,” he said. The state faced a rainfall shortage of 39% in August, the second lowest negative departure for August since 1971.
Reddy said the present depression over the Bay of Bengal moving towards Odisha and Bangladesh is attracting moisture, and taking away any chances of rain during November. Officials in the agriculture department said severe deficiency during October has resulted in almost zero rabi sowing across the state.
The prolonged dry spell has affected 23.79 lakh hectares of standing crop. The estimated loss of agricultural crops is Rs 11,051 crore and horticultural crops Rs 1,094 crore, according to the revenue department.
Saturday 5 November 2016
