KALPETTA: Copious summer rains have quenched the thirst of the parched Wayanad district. The region has received 107 mm rainfall so far whereas it had received no rain in the corresponding period last year, according to the data of the Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS), Ambalavayal. The highest rainfall was on March 5 (37.6 mm). RARS director Dr P. Rajendran told DC that the entire district had received good summer rains, warding off the fear of a drought and helping coffee plantations as it is the flowering season. The pepper farmers may not benefit as the harvest is on.
Wayanad had received the lowest rains during the last monsoon. The district had witnessed an early summer with the water sources drying up by the end of January. The jungle zones suffered massive fire mishaps except the Wayanad wildlife sanctuary. More than 20, 000 acres of forests were consumed by wildfires in the adjacent Bandipur wildlife sanctuary. Wayanad wildlife warden P. Dhanesh Kumar told DC that for the time being the fear of a wild conflagration was over. “The water bodies in the jungle have been replenished,” he said and added that the sanctuary had been saved for another month.
