Bengaluru inches closer to breaking 60-year-old rain records
- The city reported 236.36 mm of rainfall on Saturday evening, which is close to the 287 mm rainfall received by the city in the same month in 1957.
- Saturday showers wreaked havoc on the city as trees toppled and water flooded into houses.
- 62 recording stations registered heavy rainfall, out of which 22 recorded more than 64.55 mm of rain.
FollowAs of Saturday evening, Bengaluru received 236.36 mm of rainfall, which is very close to the all-time record of 287 mm registered in the same month in 1957. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (MET), the city received 35 mm of rainfall as of 8:30 pm on Saturday. The department also reported that the city received the highest rainfall since 2006 on Friday with 83.44 mm of rainfall. The winds accompanying it had reached 58 kmph.Â
The rainfall on Saturday evening, however, surpassed the monthly total of May recorded over the past decade. This was considered 90% above the normal rainfall. With more rains likely in the coming days, the MET department is expecting that the record of 60 years will easily be surpassed. G.S. Srinivasa Reddy, Director, Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, speaking to The Hindu, said, "Instead of pre-monsoon rains being spread over three months beginning March, the city is witnessing intense rainfall this May. This is one of the signs of climate change after all, where it is believed that extreme events (including three days of intense rains over the past week) will increase."
The heavy rainfall in May, however, is not likely to affect the intensity of monsoon rains. However, much to the relief of the farmers the water situation may finally look up.
Incidentally, last year, the pre-monsoon rainfall was 34% deficit, while this year South Karnataka has witnessed an excess of 30% rain. Reddy said, "Last year, much of the monsoon rain recharged groundwater and surface run-off was seen only in mid-July. This year, if conditions continue to be the same, run-off (leading to an increase in reservoir levels) can be seen in early June also."
Having said so, it is to be noted that Saturday showers wreaked havoc in the city as water entered as many as 50 houses in Uttarahalli, Bommanahalli, Kumaraswamy Layout, and Chikkalasandra. Trees were also uprooted in various parts of the city, including JP Nagar. According to a report by the Bangalore Mirror, 62 recording stations registered heavy rainfall, out of which 22 recorded more than 64.55 mm of rain. The highest rainfall, however, was recorded at Hegganahalli.
