Mahabaleshwar records 8,000 mm rains this monsoon season

Pic/Twitter IANS

On Wednesday, Mahabaleshwar, which is one of the most popular hill stations in western India, which earned the distinction of being the wettest place on Earth this monsoon added another feather to its cap this year. Deputy Director-General of Meteorology K. S. Hosalikar said that this year, Mahabaleshwar received a whopping 8000 mm (800 cms) mark.

While addressing the media persons, Hosalikar said, "The Mahabaleshwar rainfall has crossed the 8000 mm mark to notch 8012.1 mm on Wednesday. The monsoon season's normal for the hill station is 5530.1 mm." Hosalikar also said that during this year's monsoon season, Mahabaleshwar crossed the 300 mm rainfall mark in a 24-hour period not once but several times.

Meghalaya's Cherrapunji which once held the distinction of being the wettest place on the planet lost its privileged top position to the neighbouring Mawsynram, which receives over 11,870 mm rains annually. North East's Cherrapunji has fallen behind with 11,777 mm rains annually when compared to neighbouring Mawsynram.

Also Read: The Other Mahabaleshwar let's you explore the beautiful flora and fauna of the popular hill-station

Mahabaleshwar, which is one of the most popular and most visited hill stations in Western India. It is located at an altitude of 4,440 feet or 1,353 metres. The hill station which is popularly known as 'strawberry country' accounts for 85 percent of the country's production on its gentle slopes in the Western Ghats. Every year, good rains augur well for the Hill station Mahabaleshwar.

According to sources, as many as five major rivers originate from this the Mahabaleshwar station including the fourth-biggest of India, River Krishna. River Krishna flows 1,400 kms through Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh before getting empty into the Bay of Bengal. The four other rivers are Koyna, Venna, Savitri, and Gayatri reports news agency IANS.

Although Mahabaleshwar, and its neighbouring twin Panchgani, which is another popular hill station in Western India at an altitude of 4,242 feet or 1,293 metres, is a hot favourite among the tourists during the monsoon season, this year, the incessant heavy downpour has hit the tourism industry drastically.

Hardly a few hours from Panchgani is the world-famous Kaas Plateau, which is also named as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site (2012) - or the 'Valley of Flowers'. Thousands of tourists throng from all over the world between August and October to visit this place.

Also Read: Man sues Mahabaleshwar resort after arch collapses on him leaving bedridden for a month

With inputs from IANS

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