Karnataka rain alert: 14 districts on high alert, Bengaluru issued yellow warning till June 18

An IMD scientist from Bengaluru explained that the widespread rainfall is being caused by two main weather systems, an upper air cyclonic circulation over Marathwada and another trough extending across Telangana to coastal Andhra Pradesh.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday issued red and orange alerts for 14 districts in the coastal and Western Ghats regions. A yellow alert was also issued for several districts in both north and south interior Karnataka, including Bengaluru, with southwest monsoon resuming aggressively over Karnataka.

According to the weather department, the current rainy and windy weather is expected to continue for the next three days, i.e., till June 18. The latest forecast suggests that parts of coastal and north interior Karnataka will receive heavy to very heavy rainfall along with strong winds reaching speeds of 40–50 kmph. In other areas, such as Bengaluru and surrounding interior districts, light to moderate rain is likely.

An IMD scientist from Bengaluru explained that the widespread rainfall is being caused by two main weather systems, an upper air cyclonic circulation over Marathwada and another trough extending across Telangana to coastal Andhra Pradesh. In addition, a previous cyclonic circulation over the Bay of Bengal merged with another near South Bangladesh, further enhancing rainfall over Karnataka, The Times of India reported.

Red alert: Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Udupi, Chikkamagaluru, Kodagu, Shivamogga

Orange alert: Belagavi, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Chamarajanagar, Davanagere, Hassan, Mysuru

Yellow alert: Mandya, Koppal, Kalaburagi, Bidar, Bengaluru

Meanwhile, farmers across Karnataka have made strong progress in sowing this year with the early arrival of monsoon and the record rainfall in May, The Hindu reported.

According to the agriculture department, the state has already completed sowing on 20.42 lakh hectares of land for the Kharif season by June 13. This is much higher than the normal coverage of 11.95 lakh hectares by this time, marking a 171 per cent increase.

Agriculture Minister N Cheluvarayaswamy attributed this progress to the government's efforts in ensuring timely supply of fertilisers and seeds. He said he is personally monitoring the situation every day. “We also managed to get soybean seeds from other states to meet the demand,” The Hindu quoted him as saying.