The Hindu Business Line : Southwest monsoon gets active across AP

AFTER nearly a three-week lull phase, the southwest monsoon was active bringing widespread rain across various parts of Andhra Pradesh, bringing cheer to the farmers and city folk.

Caused by a cyclonic upper air circulation over the Bay of Bengal, this was the first major spell of monsoon rains that have occurred in the Telangana and coastal districts of the State. They were described as moderate to heavy by the Meteorological Office.

According to the Met Office here, the wet spell, witnessed on Thursday and Friday, is likely to continue for one more day with rather heavy rains likely in Srikakulam, Viziangaram, Visakhapatnam, East and West Godavari and some districts in the Telangana region including the twin cities.

The rains would be a blessing for the farmers who have to complete sowing operations for a majority of the crops by July 31. The virtual dry spell, which followed the late arrival of the monsoon into the State, had made the Agriculture Department and scientists to provide alternate contingency plans.

The last two days of rains has brought down the temperature and is likely to aid farming operations across the State. The State reservoirs present a pretty grim picture with abysmally low levels causing concern both with the State administration and people about drinking water supplies. The Metropolitan Water Board has already begun to regulate the supplies in view of the depleted levels.

Meanwhile, with several dams in Karnataka— particularly Almatti and Narayanpur on the Krishna river system, witnessing copious water inflows, the authorities there have lifted crest gates releasing water downstream. It is hoped that this would mean some water flows into Andhra Pradesh reservoirs in the next few days.

Rains in the Krishna river catchment reflect that dams in Karnataka would almost fill up in the next few days. This augured well for Andhra Pradesh, as the water thus released would shore up the levels in reservoirs downstream on the Krishna. These include Jurala, Srisailam, and Nagarjuna Sagar projects.

Once the inflows pick up in these reservoirs, the State could also generate additional hydel power, thereby easing pressure on the power system.

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