Low pressure area a boon for depleting water reservoirs in South India

With rising temperatures and increasing evaporation rates, several water reservoirs in peninsular India have started to dry up as water levels have gone down significantly since the onset of summer in March. Concerns were being raised that in absence of good amount of widespread rain, there could be severe water crisis in the region.

But the low pressure area which is approaching the extreme southern peninsular region near Comorin area and is expected to stay in the region for the next three to four days has come as a big relief for the people in this part of the country. According to Skymet Meteorology Division in India, such low pressure areas give more widespread rain than stronger weather systems such as tropical storms or cyclones. The latter has the tendency to dry up rain around 50 kilometers of its circumference but low pressure areas or depressions usually bring widespread rain along its path.

So, the chances of rain in Karnataka, where 93% of lakes and tanks have dried up and a grave water crisis was being foreseen due to shortage of drinking water and that for irrigation would come as a huge relief. The water crisis was also brewing in Madurai in Tamil Nadu as it was expected by the Public Works Department that the drinking water storage in Vaigai dam may not last beyond May 5. The Vaigai dam is the major source of drinking water for Madurai. Till last Sunday, water level at Vaigai dam stood at 23.46 ft with a storage of 171 mcft. With evaporation loss estimated at 5 mcft everyday, water level will not last for drinking water supply beyond May 5.

Pre-monsoon rain in South India

Pre-monsoon rain has been 19 percent below normal in Kerala from 1^st March to 30^th April. South interior Karnataka has received 24 percent surplus rain during this period. Telangana and north interior Karnataka have witnessed 123 and 85 percent of rain respectively, which is higher than the average for the period, while Tamil Nadu has been deficient. Rain in Rayalaseema in Andhra Pradesh was short by 16 percent compared to its average for the period. According to the latest weather update, rainfall records show that excluding south interior Karnataka, all the other regions had scanty or deficient rain from 24^th April to 30^th April.