Kovai may see lowest rainfall in 3 decades

“The lowest annual rainfall recorded so far was 373 mm in 2012,” Professor and Head, Agro Climatic Research Centre (ACRC), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), S Paneerselvam told DTNext. Without rains, people and wildlife too have been affected, with rivers drying up fast and underground water table depleting this year. Increase in industrialisation and vehicle population and felling of trees are among the factors that are attributed for poor rainfall. The annual rainfall pattern here is split into four seasons — Winter (January and February) and Summer (March to May) showers and the South West (June to September) and North East (October to December) monsoons. This year, the district received far less rainfall against the average rain recorded in all the four seasons. 

Pointing out at statistics Paneerselvam said that the district has been recording an average annual rainfall of 694 mm since 1986. “The highest rainfall of 1,103 mm was recorded in 2011, before the lowest rainfall was recorded in 2012,” he said. With only a month to go for the north east monsoon to end the chances of recording more than 146 mm required to go past 373 mm (the lowest rainfall so far) seems remote,” he opined. The region is expecting some relief in the first week of December with the cyclone Nada that is expected to cross the coastal districts of the state in a day. “Coimbatore region could get 65 mm rainfall from December 2 to 4. With a second depression forming in the Bay there is chance for another spell of rains in a week,” he added. Though this mediocre rainfall is not sufficient to save newly planted crops, it is expected to help the banana, sugarcane and turmeric crops that are getting ready for harvest in about a month’s time. But unavailability of water is sure to reflect as drop in production. The ground water table would improve marginally for a few days if it rains due to cyclonic activity, he said.