Agumbe in Thirthahalli taluk, synonymous with unceasing downpours that earned it the title Cherrapunji of south India, seems to have lost the wettest place tag to neighbouring Udupi district.
According to data from the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), various places in Udupi district received the highest rainfall in Karnataka five times in the last seven years between 2015 and 2021.
Barring 2015 and 2018, Udupi district topped the rainfall charts. Experts said this is a sign of things to come and attributed the development to deforestation and global warming.
New leader
As per data, Bairampalli in Udupi district recorded the highest rainfall in 2016 (5,916mm). In the following year, Shiralu in Karkala taluk recorded 6,936 mm of rain.
In 2016 and 2017, Agumbe, located in Shivamogga district, recorded rainfall of 5,524 mm and 5,345 mm respectively,
Similarly, in 2019, Hebri in Udupi topped with a whopping 9,340 mm of rain, while in 2020, it was the turn of Innanje with 7,988 mm. In these years too, Agumbe was not nowhere close to these figures.
Remarkably, over the last decade, Hulikal in Hosanagar taluk of Shivamogga district outscored Agumbe when it came to rain. In the last seven years between 2015 and 2021, Hulikal recorded more rainfall than Agumbe.
The reason
T V Ramachandra, scientist at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, blamed it on climate change.
Mono-tree culture plantations and deforestation in the Western Ghats region are the major causes of climate change, he said.
"As per our study carried out in Western Ghats, some areas in the region receive heavy rainfall and the others get less rainfall in a year," he said.
"Karnataka has only 20% of forest cover against the expected 33%. Western Ghats region in the state has only 18% forest cover and lost 10% forest in the last ten years," said Ramachandra, warning of water crisis and more unseasonal rains in the coming days.
Climate expert B M Kumaraswamy said rainfall has been erratic in recent years. "Climate change is nothing but unpredictability of weather," said Kumaraswamy, who was a former member of the Western Ghats task force.
"Deforestation, global warming and emission of carbon dioxide and many factors are causes for the existing situation. Karnataka recorded 60% excess rainfall between October and December last year. So rainfall pattern has changed completely," he said.