Mangaluru : People reeling under heat wave and acute water crisis heaved a sigh of relief as thundershowers accompanied with gusty winds lashed the city on Thursday evening.

Bringing the mercury level down, the summer rain caught many returning home from work unawares. Though the spell of rain lasted about 45 minutes, it brought cheers to the people who have been waiting for it for long, even as many wards in the city were being supplied water once in three days or four days or once in a week.

Reports reaching here said that some other parts of Dakshina Kannada also received rainfall in the evening. Rain lashed Ujire, Puttur, Moodbidri, Panja, Valalambe, Balila, Kedila, Savanur and Mani and nearby areas.

An official of the Mangaluru City Corporation said that some catchment areas of the Netravathi getting rain on Wednesday and also earlier has not helped increase water storage at the Thumbe vented dam that supplies water to the city. The water-level at the dam stood more or less at 4 ft against the maximum level of 13 ft.

The official said that the water-level in the dam went up by only one inch on Thursday. It was after the officials cleared the stagnant water in the river course at Jakribettu near Bantwal. A heavy earthmover sent by Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) was used for it.

The official said that the corporation would pump water from the dam from Friday. Water could be pumped till the level depleted to 3 ft or 3.5 ft. The corporation would take a call on lifting water further down depending on the inflow in the river. If the catchment areas of the Netravathi received rain for two more days, farmers would temporarily stop pumping water from the Netravathi and its tributaries. It would help in resuming inflow in the Netravathi. Thus, Thumbe dam might get some water.

Puttur recorded 41 mm rain in 24 hours ending at 8 a.m. on Thursday. Sullia recorded 17.4 mm and Kadaba 6.2 mm rain during the same period.