Rains bring cheer to Dharwad, with it misery too

The district received above normal rains in July, and farmers are gearing up to take up sowing

Heavy rains that lashed the district during the last week of July has brought cheers to farmers who were deprived of the opportunity to sow due to the absence of rains in June.

The district has received above normal rain in July, and as a result the farmers are again gearing up to take up sowing to minimise their losses.

Dharwad taluk received 236.8 mm (normal: 180 mm) rain while Hubli received 165.1 mm (normal: 131 mm). Kundgol got 111 mm (normal: 111 mm), Kalghatagi 258 mm (Normal: 248 mm) and Navalgund 94 mm (Normal: 74 mm) taking the district average to 149 mm. In June, the district received 47 mm as against the normal 81 mm.

While sowing had taken place in the Malnad region of the district in early June with summer showers bringing down the temperatures and wetting the soil, farmers in the rest of the district were waiting for two or three more spells of rain, to get into action.

Having suffered two successive droughts, the farmers were hoping that at least this year the rain God will be kind to them.

It is expected that 207,000 hectares will be brought sowed this season. But so far only 120,000 hectares have been sown.

A farmer from Uppinabetageri, Bhimappa Dindalkopp, said the July rains could only help farmers minimise the loss and there was no way the farmers would reap huge benefits.

Last year the area under crops was 128,000 hectares as against the expected 280,000 hectares due to inadequate rainfall. The main Kharif crops in the district are groundnut, green gram, maize, soya bean, cotton among others.

While this is the scenario in the rural part of the district, the urban centres have been sufferers due to the heavy rains. Several low-lying areas have been inundated with gushing into the houses and washing away household articles. Several areas have also become islands.

Koppadakeri, Jannat Nagar, Channabasaveshwar Nagar, Bhavikatti plot and Nehru Nagar among others continue to be haunted by inundation. The people in the area are also fearing outbreak of epidemics.

The shoddy works by the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation and PWD is showing up as the roads which were re-laid recently are again full of pot holes.