Monsoon activity has intensified in Kerala. Rainfall deficit came down from over 50 percent as on June 20 to a mere 13 percent by June 27. With weathermen’s prediction that heavy rains may continue till Tuesday, the shortage in showers in the State could be made up this month itself.
According to the Met Department, very heavy rains are likely to lash the State for two more days, accompanied by strong winds with speeds up to between 45 kilometers per hour to 55 kmph. Scientists have also predicted the possibility of sea erosion and have issued an alert for the fishermen going to sea for their job.
Till June 20 since the southwest monsoon’s touchdown on the Kerala coast on June 5 four days behind the normal schedule, there was a rainfall shortfall of more than 50 percent with many days getting not even the normal expected showers of 15 mm to 20 mm. This had caused even fears of a drought among the weathermen.
However, monsoon strengthened all of a sudden on June 21 with rainfall rising to 35 mm from the 10 mm the previous day. “The monsoon’s limping seems to have ended with that and since then the rains have stabilized,” said a scientist at the IMD’s Thiruvananthapuram office. On Saturday, the State received an average rainfall of 70 mm.
The 24 hours between Friday and Saturday had witnessed the heaviest showers in the current season with Kerala receiving an average rainfall of 7 cm. Vadakara in Kozhikode district recorded the highest rainfall at 16.35 cm in those 24 hours followed by Kozha in Kottayam (12.6 cm). Thirty rain gauges in the State had recorded 7 cm of rainfall in those 24 hours.
Among the Government’s service arms, the Kerala State Electricity Board bore the gravest brunt of this monsoon season. As many as 8,260 electric poles and 1,200 km of high-tension and low-tension electrical lines were destroyed . As many as 72 transformers were destroyed or damaged, according to the KSEB.
The exact loss the KSEB has suffered in this season is to be calculated but it could come to several crores of rupees, officials say. Also, personnel at most electrical sections of the board in the State had to work without rest for several days together to restore power. Personnel of the Fire and Rescue Force also had a harrowing time due to widespread uprooting of trees which damaged houses and caused traffic blocks.
A total of 25 persons lost lives, including the five children who were killed when an uprooted tree fell on the school bus in which they were returning home in Kothamangalam in Ernakulam district on Friday, in rain-related incidents till Sunday. Ninety-five houses were destroyed and 3,000 were partially damaged in rains and winds. The losses in the rains and winds could come to over `70 crore.