The southwest monsoon has caused heavy rains in the catchment areas of Cauvery in Kodagu, Hassan and Mysore districts even as reservoirs showed a significant rise in water levels.
Heavy rains brought life to a standstill in Kodagu district. Cauvery and its tributaries were flowing close to the danger mark, officials said on Tuesday. In the village of Heggalagi, hundreds of acres of coffee planatation have been destroyed. Several houses have collapsed and people are moving to safer places. A water spring has errupted in the middle of a road, damaging the entire road.
With the Krishnaraja Sagar reservoir, near Mysore, receiving heavy inflow of 55,625 cusecs, the water level stood at 97.55 feet against the maximum of 124.80 feet. The release from the reservoir was 13,897 cusecs.
Belgaum is getting closer to witnessing floods as the level of Krishna continued to rise in parts of Chikkodi, Raibag and Athani taluk. On Wednesday, outflow of Rajapur reservoir was 2.18 lakh cusecs and that of Koyna 2,200 cusecs.
Several acres of Chikkodi taluk, including Yedur and Manjari villages, were inundated. Several buildings, including Veerbhadreshwara temple, inspection bungalow and houses near Yedur, were inundated in Krishna waters, while 16 bridges and roads continued to be under water for the fourth day.
Two persons were feared to have been washed away in floods. One disappeared at Shiradi and another at Jalalpur, both in Raibag taluk. They have been identified as Bheemappa Dasar and Srikant.
District Minister, Shashikant Naik toured several inundated areas of Belgaum district and said the district administration was taking necessary measures to face the situation.
The water level in Hemavathy Reservoir in Hassan district, which has been receiving heavy inflows, stood at 2,899 feet against the full capacity of 2,922 feet. The inflow and release were 35,000 cusecs and 6,000 cusecs respectively.
Meanwhile, the Kabini Reservoir in Mysore district was just five feet short of the maximum level of 2,284 feet. The Harangi reservoir was also reaching towards the danger mark of 2,859 feet. The water level stood at 2844.66 feet.
In Mysore district, river Lakshmanathirtha was in full spate and flood water entered into the agricultural fields damaging standing crops.
HELP SOUGHT
The State government will soon approach the Centre seeking flood relief, said Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.
Participating in a private function here, he said, “I am constantly in touch with deputy commissioners of flood- affected areas and asked them to submit a report on the loss. The same will be placed before the Cabinet for discussions. After that, an appeal will be made to the Centre.”