Wayanad is witnessing its hottest days in the recent past with maximum temperature touching 38 degrees Celsius on March 29 (Friday). With the temperature constantly hovering around 34 degrees Celsius, which is nearly two degrees above the normal temperature, people are mostly opting to stay indoors.
According to data available with the Hume Centre for Ecology and Wildlife Biology, temperature has been rising for the past few weeks.
The centre has set up 70 thermometers across the region with the support of the community weather stations. The data revealed that a maximum temperature of 38 degrees Celsius was recorded in the villages on the Kerala-Karnataka border such as Kabanigiri near Pulpally and Bavali near Kattikulam in the district.
Those areas had recorded the maximum temperature of 38 degrees Celsius last year too, but it sustained only for two to three days, said C.K. Vishnudas, director of the centre. Now, those areas have been experiencing the same temperature for the past fortnight, he added.
February brought diverse temperatures, with Kabanigiri reaching a high of 37 degrees Celsius. Moving into March 1 to 15, Kabanigiri and Bavili peaked at 38 degrees Celsius, he said.
Official data revealed that the average temperature in the district was 32 degrees Celsius from February second week to March-end in 2017 as against 30.8 degrees Celsius in 2016. It was 27.2 degrees Celsius in 2011 and 25.3 degrees Celsius in 2012.
“We have launched an initiative titled ‘community climate managers’ to facilitate knowledge transfer at the local level on climate vagaries and data collection. Ten persons have been identified in each panchayat for the purpose, and they are equipped as local weather experts,” Mr. Vishnudas said.
Usually, Wayanad is an attractive destination for tourists during the summer owing to its moderate climate, but the rise in temperature like the plains may adversely affect its tourism prospects.
The rising temperature and lack of summer rain have put farmers in a fix as many of them could not apply fertilisers to crops such as plantain, passion fruit, coconut, and areca nut palms.
Many parts of the district received better rain in the first week of January, and coffee plants bloomed but, they did not get backup showers. Such a situation would adversely affect the quality of coffee beans, farmers said.
