It is a long monsoon for the Karnataka coast

Mangalore: The Karnataka coast is having an extended rainy season. The South West Monsoons have ended but the North East monsoons have taken over now resulting in the entire coast going wet beyond their normal season of rain. As a result, agriculture, horticulture and fisheries have taken a severe beating.

It is characteristic of Karnataka coast that the South West Monsoons end sometime in the second week of October in the coastal areas and the northeastern monsoons gave one or two showers, but this time the North Eastern monsoons have been active over the coast ever since the South West monsoons have subsided giving the coastal areas an extended monsoon period.

"There are several low-pressure systems prevailing over the Bay of Bengal and smaller systems have formed over the West coast also which is resulting in rains in the coastal areas as well as South Interior Karnataka. These systems are going to prevail indefinitely for the next few days. Though such rains are termed as 'normal' for the eastern parts of the state, for the western coast it was not" said an official in the IMD Bangalore station.

The IMD Trivandrum station has recorded excess rains in almost all parts of the Kerala and Karnataka coast at least by 40 per cent than the last year's figures. Sources in the station told that "it was unusual for the West Coast to have un-seasonal rains in such copious volumes. The most important aspect of the rains was that it was pouring over the sea and the coast after covering the Eastern parts of Karnataka and Kerala states" Could it be a result of climate change?

hen asked the sources said "it was an isolated case, if it happens next two years same time around, it could be categorised as 'un-usual weather' and becomes a case for detailed probe, low-pressure systems are formed all the time after a strong cyclonic circulation occurs, in this case, the 'Mandous' cyclone has left microsystems back"

The Arabian Sea Monsoon Experiment (ARMEX) data network launched in 2002 all over the West Coast has also indicated extended activity of North Eastern Monsoons over the Arabian Sea. "It was too premature to conclude any abnormal activity at this point in time but the study will continue," said sources.

But the unseasonal rains have left the coastal areas of Karnataka gasping for a break, "The seas are still very rough and only large boats like longliners and purse seines are venturing into the sea said and most of them do not even reach the 50 meters fathom depth (about 20 nautical miles) within the Exclusive Economic Zone of India. This has resulted in a dip in fish catch in all three maritime districts of Karnataka.