Mysuru: The city experienced sudden showers last evening. Since the last three days there was cloudy weather and it began raining in the evening. What began as a light drizzle turned to heavy downpour in some parts of city.

Temperatures cooled down a bit after the showers. In a few areas two-wheeler riders were put to a lot of inconvenience as they ran for cover. Apart from city, it rained in Gundlupet, Madikeri and a few other places.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Dr. C. Govindaraju, Plant Protection Specialist, Organic Farming Research Station, Naganahalli said, “They are not sudden showers. It is due to depression in Arabian Sea and the cloudy weather. There is a sudden condensation and hence we had what is called the blossom showers (Hoovu Male).”

Asked whether the rains would continue, he said that there would be intermittent rains in a gap of five to ten days. “This is good for coffee growers in Chikmagalur, Sakleshpur and Kodagu districts as it will help in the pollination of flowers with just 5 mm rain. After the blossom showers, they have to induce flowering by using backwater. However, if it rains then they can save lakhs of rupees as they need not have to use diesel to pump water,” he said.

Dr. Govindaraju said that since we had excess rainfall last year, this year there is going to be normal rainfall. “This is the trend we have seen in the last 60 years,” he added. On why KRS was not being full since the last many years, he said, “We are responsible for the current situation. In the past KRS used to reach the maximum level of 124.8 feet. The forest cover has gone down by almost three per cent and due to this deforestation, the rainfall has come down.”