THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Things have been rosy on the monsoon front, with the State receiving normal southwest and northeast monsoons in the year just concluded and Idukki district — the mainstay of hydel power generation — recording the best rainfall in the last 15 years.

The State received an annual rainfall of 315 cm against a normal of 310 cm — an excess of five per cent, thanks to a series of depressions and cyclonic systems in the Bay of Bengal. Idukki got an annual rainfall of 570 cm against a normal of 377 cm — an excess of 51 per cent.

The State had received a normal southwest rainfall in 2005 for the first time since 1998. The northeast monsoon set in earlier than usual on October 12 and was also robust, thanks to some cyclonic systems forming in the Bay and moving from east to west, and some others hitting the Tamil Nadu coast.

On the flip side, three northern districts got deficient rain in 2005. Kozhikode had a deficit of 36 per cent, Kasargode 31 per cent and Kannur 24 per cent. All three districts had received deficient southwest monsoon rainfall and the deficit was carried over as these three districts depend almost entirely on the main monsoon.

Idukki had an excess rainfall of 69 per cent during the southwest monsoon itself. The previous highest annual rainfall in the hilly district since 1990 was 425 cm — in 1998. "When systems form in the Bay, Idukki and Kottayam tend to get good rain," Met Centre Director K. Santhosh told The Hindu .

Pathanamthitta district is also sitting pretty, having received an annual rainfall of 332 cm against a normal of 284 cm--an excess of 17 cm. This means good news on the power front as Idukki and Pathanamthitta together account for 86 per cent of the total hydel power generated in the State.

Out of the total annual rainfall, Kerala gets 69 per cent from the southwest monsoon, 16 per cent from the northeast, 14 per cent from pre-monsoon showers from March to May and one per cent in January-February.

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