Rainfall in Karnataka

The state of Karnataka in India has a bittersweet relationship with rains. While its regions of Malnad and Coastal Karnataka receive copious amount of rainfall; its north Bayaluseemae region in the Deccan Plateau is one of the most arid regions in the country. Most of the rains received in the state is during the monsoon season. Being an agrarian economy with a large percentage of its citizens engaged in agriculture, the failure of rains can have a crippling effect on the economy of the state. Apart from the benefits in agriculture, the Government of Karnataka has tried to avail other benefits of rainfall using scientific methods. An example of this is the project, Rainwater Harvesting in Rural Karnataka which is initiated by the Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology and is one of the largest rainwater harvesting projects in the world.[1] Agumbe in the Shimoga district , Amagaon in Belgaum District, Hulikal again in Shimoga district and Talakaveri in Madikeri are some of the known places with the highest annual rainfall in South India. Of this Amagaon has received over 10000 mm rain fall twice in 10 years.

Heavy rains show the full might of Jog Falls in Shimoga district

Agumbe and Hulikal in Shivamogga District of Western Ghat region is considered as "Cheerapunji of South India" but still some places in Western Ghats region had resulted much more rainfall than these two villages. Amagaon in Belgaum District recorded magical number of 10,068mm in the year 2010 , Mundrote in Kodagu district recorded 9974mm in the year 2011.

The table below compares rainfall  between Agumbe in Thirthahalli taluk in Shimoga district, Hulikal in Hosanagara taluk in Shimoga district, Amagaon in Khanapur Taluk in Belgaum district and Talacauvery and Mundrote in Madikeri taluk in Kodagu district, Kokalli of Sirsi Taluk ,Nilkund of Siddapur Taluk, CastleRock of Supa(Joida) Taluk in Uttara Kannada District, Kollur in Udupi District to show which one can be called the "Cherrapunji of South India".

Year Hulikal Rainfall (mm) Agumbe Rainfall (mm) Amagaon Rainfall (mm) Talacauvery Rainfall (mm) [2] Kokalli Rainfall (mm) Nilkund Rainfall (mm) Castle Rock Rainfall (mm) Mundrote Rainfall (mm) Kollur Rainfall (mm)
2017 5,700 6,311 4,733 5,859 3130 4981 5560 1002 5203
2016 5,721 6,449 4,705 5,430 2682 4655 4968 1458 3496
2015 6,035 5,518 4,013 5,319 2730 4367 3667 3143 4254
2014 7,907 7,917 5,580 7,844 8746 6710 5956 5566 3308
2013 9,383 8,770 8,440 8,628 4464 7082 3667 7199 6614
2012 8,409 6,933 5,987 5,722 5036 5398 6165 3727 6715
2011 8,523 7,921 9,368 6,855 4437 6593 7083 9974 7083
2010 7,717 6,929 10,068 6,794 4002 - - 5042 7685
2009 8,357 7,982 - - - - -
2008 7,115 7,199 - - - - -
2007 9,038 8,255 - - - - -
2006 8,656 8,457 - - -[3][4] - -


The following were the top 5 places that recorded highest rainfall in statistics [2010-2017] [5][6][7][8]

Rank Hobli/Village District Taluk Year Rainfall in mm Elevation in metres
1 Amagaon Belgaum district Khanapur 2010 10,068 785
2 Mundrote Kodagu district/Coorg District Madikeri 2011 9,974 585
3 Hulikal Shimoga district Hosanagara 2013 9,383 614
4 Agumbe Shimoga district Thirthahalli 2013 8,770 643
5 Kokalli/Kakalli Uttara Kannada Sirsi 2014 8,746 780

The following places recorded highest rainfall with respect to each year [2010-2017]

Year Place Taluk District Rainfall in mm Elevation
2017 Agumbe Thirthahalli Shimoga district 6,311 634
2016 Agumbe Thirthahalli Shimoga district 6,449 634
2015 Hulikal Hosanagara Shimoga district 6,035 614
2014 Kokalli Sirsi Uttara Kannada 8,746 780
2013 Hulikal Hosanagara Shimoga district 9,383 614
2012 Hulikal Hosanagara Shimoga district 8,409 614
2011 Mundrote Madikeri Kodagu district 9,974 585
2010 Amagaon Khanapur Belgaum district 10,068 785


[9][10][11][12][13][14]

Importance

The economy of Karnataka is mainly agrarian and most of it is dependent on the rainfall; mainly the southwest monsoon. The extent of arid land in the state is second only to Rajasthan.[15] Only 26.5% of sown area (30,900 km²) is subjected to irrigation and hence the rest of the cultivated land is entirely dependent on rainfall.[16] Rainfall also influences the quantity of water available in the rivers which in turn influences the amount of drinking water available to the population and the amount of electricity that can be generated in the hydroelectric power stations in the state. The importance of rainfall is such that Karnataka sometimes had to resort to costly artificial methods like cloud seeding in order to induce rain artificially.[17] Rainfall is also crucial to recharge the depleting ground water and Karnataka has come up with innovative methods like rainwater harvesting in order to solve the drinking water scarcity in the state.

Rainwater harvesting

Karnataka is a pioneer in the concept of rainwater harvesting with The Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology (KSCST) implementing one of the largest rainwater harvesting projects in the world. 23683 schools in rural Karnataka were selected for this project with the main goal of providing drinking water by using the method of rooftop harvesting.[1] In this project, rainwater collected on the rooftop is channeled through a system of PVC pipes and stored in an enclosed surface tank. The pipeline consists of a first-flush filter which flushes out the first rainfall along with other contaminants that may exist on the roof and then subsequent cleaner rainwater is allowed to pass on to the tank. A sand bed filter is used to further eliminate impurities in the water before it gets collected in the tank.[1] Further precautions are taken to prevent dust and insects from entering the tank.

Consequences

Deficient rainfall

A year of deficient rainfall leads to the following consequences:

  • Agricultural output will be impacted: While this has a direct impact on the economy of the state, it also leads to other social issues like the suicide of farmers. Due to the crop failure, the farmers would not be in a position to repay the loans they had taken for agriculture and few of them take an extreme step of suicide.[18]
  • Drinking water scarcity: A lot of towns and cities in Karnataka are dependent on rivers for the supply of drinking water and any deficiency in rainfall leads to lesser amount of drinking water being supplied to the homes.
  • Shortage of electricity: Deficient rainfall leads to a drop in the amount of electricity produced by hydroelectric projects and hence drastic measures like compulsory power cuts have to be employed to counter this shortage.[19]

Excess rainfall

Heavy rains can lead to a significant loss of life and property and also cause damage to the crops.[20] Excess rains also cause an impact in major cities with inundated roads causing traffic jams. An example of this was in the year 2005 when the Madivala lake overflowed on to the Hosur Road in Bangalore forcing many schools and offices to close.[21]

Rainfall distribution

The average annual rainfall in Karnataka is 1248 mm.[22] The state is divided into three meteorological zones viz. North Interior Karnataka, South Interior Karnataka and Coastal Karnataka. Coastal Karnataka with an average annual rainfall of 3456 mm is one of the most rainy regions in the country. Contrasting this, the region of South Interior Karnataka and North Interior Karnataka receive only 1286 and 731 mm of average annual rainfall.[23]

Districts

The average annual rainfall in the districts of Karnataka varies from 562 mm in the Bagalkot district to 4119 mm in the Udupi District. Bagalkot, Chitradurga and Koppal are the districts which receive the least rainfall whereas Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Hassan, Kodagu, Chickmagalur and Shivamogga districts receive the heaviest rainfall.

Notes
  1. A. R. Shivakumar. "World's largest rainwater harvesting project in Karnataka" (PDF). Current Science, VOL. 92, NO. 2, 25 JANUARY 2007. Online webpage of Indian Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 25 June 2007.
  2. Amagaon has got over 10,000 mm annual rainfall twice in the five years (2006-2010). The exact amount of rainfall is not available. See Amagaon is now Cherrapunji of South from DeccanHerald.com accessed 23 March 2013
  3. "Govt of Karnataka Rainfall Statistics (Kokalli)" (PDF). DES.
  4. "Rainfall Statistics of Karnataka". DES Karnataka.
  5. "Rainfall Statistics for Kokalli (Ajjimane)" (PDF). DES Karnataka.
  6. "Rainfall Statistics for Amagaon" (PDF). DES Karnataka.
  7. "Rainfall Statistics for Mundrote" (PDF). DES Karnataka.
  8. "Rainfall Statistics for Agumbe and Hulikal" (PDF). DES karnataka.
  9. "Govt of Karnataka Rainfall Statistics (Kokalli)" (PDF). DES.
  10. "Rainfall Statistics of Karnataka". DES Karanataka.
  11. "Rainfall Statistics for Kokalli (Ajjimane)" (PDF). DES Karnataka.
  12. "Rainfall Statistics for Amagaon" (PDF). DES Karnataka.
  13. "Rainfall Statistics for Mundrote" (PDF). DES Karnataka.
  14. "Rainfall Statistics for Agumbe and Hulikal" (PDF). DES karnataka.
  15. "Karnataka Human Development Report 2005" (PDF). Online webpage of the Planning Commission. Government of India. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  16. "Karnataka Agricultural Policy 2006" (PDF). Online webpage of Department of Agriculture. Government of Karnataka. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  17. B Chandrashekhar (21 September 2003). "Cloud-seeding experts counsel patience". Online webpage of The Hindu, dated 2003-09-21. Chennai, India. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  18. Parvathi Menon. "From debt to death". Online webpage of The Frontline, Volume 20 - Issue 20, September 27 - October 10, 2003. © 2003, Frontline. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  19. "Belgaum facing power shortage of 46 mu a month". Online Edition of The Hindu, dated 2007-03-22. Chennai, India: 2007, The Hindu. 22 March 2007. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  20. "Heavy rains in Karnataka, toll climbs to 117". Online edition of The Times of India, dated 2007-06-24. © 2007 Times Internet Limited. 24 June 2007. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  21. "Bangalorean's water woes continue". Online Edition of The Hindu, dated 2005-10-25. Chennai, India: 2005, The Hindu. 25 October 2005. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  22. "Rainfall". Online Webpage of the Department of Agriculture. Government of Karnataka. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  23. "Average annual rainfall of the states of India". Online webpage of Rainwaterharvesting.org. © Centre for Science & Environment, India. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  24. "Rainfall statistics". Online webpage of the Department of Agriculture. Government of Karnataka. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
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