Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Jun 28: The rain this time has been playing spoilsport since the last some days. The Karnataka coast is experiencing sunny weather most of the day with rain making brief appearances thrice or four times in between at will. Experts say that the shortfall of rain so far has been around 50 percent. It is alarming to find that rivers and rivulets which were expected to be in spate at this time of the year are experiencing normal flow.

The rainfall during the period from June 1 to 25 this time has been the lowest during the last six years. Water level in River Netravati this time is 3 meters as compared to 5.2 meters on this day last year. Paddy cultivation has suffered as farmers are finding hard to raise seedlings. Agricultural fields located at higher altitudes away from sources of water, which are called as 'Bettugadde' here, may go uncultivated if the situation continues like this.

During the 24-hour period ended 8.30 am on Thursday, most of the places in the state's coast and some places in the interior Karnataka received rain. Kundapur got eight cm rainfall, which was the highest in the state. On an average, the coast experienced five to seven cm of rainfall.

Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre scientist, Sunil Gavaskar, noted that monsoon continues to be weak during this month and the situation is expected to improve during the first week of July when monsoon is likely to gain momentum.