Parts of south interior Karnataka including Mysuru-Mandya-Chamarajanagar continues to be under the spell of scorching summer with maximum temperature being 3 to 4 degrees Celsius above normal since the last few days.
According to India Meteorological Department the maximum temperature in Mysuru during the 24 hours ending 8.30 a.m. on Sunday, April 29, 2024, was 37.3 degrees Celsius which was 3.1 degrees Celsius above normal. In Mandya, the maximum temperature was 39.2 degrees Celsius which was 4.3 degrees Celsius above normal as per IMD while Chamarajanagar was sizzling at 40 degrees Celsius during the same period.
As a result of the sizzling heat normal life has been affected with people staying indoors for greater part of the day till the heat subsidizes besides consuming tender coconut, water melons, sugarcane juice etc, when outside, to keep themselves hydrated.
The Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) pegged the maximum temperature for Mysuru during the 24 hours ending 8.30 a.m. on Sunday at 39.9 degrees Celsius. Its live dashboard indicated that the temperature in parts of Mysuru district was hovering around 40 degrees Celsius at 3 p.m. on Sunday while HD Kote was around 38.9 degrees Celsius and Bilikeri near Mysuru was scorching at 39.2 degrees Celsius
It is common during summer for maximum temperature in Mysuru to hover around 37 degrees Celsius to 38 degrees Celsius during March/April but they are for short duration and the region used to receive temporary reprieve by way of pre-monsoon rains.
But there has been no such breather by way of good rains rhis year so as to reduce the temperature significantly as a result of which the severity of the summer heat is prolonged and immense.
As if the severity of prolonged summer was not enough, the bad news is that the KSNDMC has forecast a rise in maximum temperature by 2 degrees Celsius to 3 degrees Celsius above normal from April 28 to May 2, 2024 in south interior Karnataka.
The intensity of the summer has also been accentuated by the lack of rain and the deficit for the period March 1 to April 25 for which the data is available, is 86 per cent for Mysuru district which has received only 9.1 mm of rainfall during the period.
The agony of the prolonged summer is accompanied by the decline in water availability in major reservoirs which are the main source of drinking water for cities like Mysuru, Bengaluru, Mandya and other towns.
The gross storage in the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) reservoir as of April 25 was the lowest for the day compared to the previous five years. The gross storage as of April 25 was 11.65 tmc ft as against the gross capacity of 49.45 tmc ft. The water availability during the same period last year was 15 tmc ft while it was 23.88 tmc ft in 2022 and 18.86 tmc ft in 2021, as per KSNDMC records. If the pre-monsoon fails then it will have a bearing on the drinking water scenario in the region.
