Heavy rains claim seven lives in coastal Karnataka, Kasargod

Heavy rains that lashed the State’s coastal districts claimed five lives in Dakshina Kannada and two in Kasargod district on Tuesday.

Four persons of a family were killed when a compound wall at a higher reach collapsed on their tiled roof houses below, in the wee hours of Tuesday, at Dalit Colony, Thottilaguri near Bajpe, in Mangalore taluk.

The deceased are Sundar (65), Sundari (60), Baby (50) and Chaitra (13). The injured Shekhar, Leelavathi, Asha, Ashwath, Ashwini and Ajith are recuperating at Wenlock Hospital.

In another incident, Dejappa (65) was washed away in a stream while crossing it, at Gandibagilu in Neriya of Belthangady. The body was retrieved on Monday evening.

All the four killed were residents of Dalit Colony and there are 18 families in the Dalit colony, which is located in the heart of Bajpe town. It is alleged that an influential person had constructed a building by acquiring land belonging to Dalits and the compound wall constructed around it proved fatal for the families residing below.

With the heavy rains lashing the district, the compound wall had developed cracks. The residents had also informed Gram Panchayat authorities about the same, but they had not taken the issue seriously, it is alleged. All the 18 families possess BPL ration cards.
“We eke out a living taking up cobblers’ job. Now as our houses are damaged, where will we go?” asked a distraught Leelavathi. Rajesh, son-in-law of Leelavathi, bemoaned: “We can't survive this tragedy. As we are poor, it will take a long time to regain all that was lost in a night.”

Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner N Prakash said that, “the family of the deceased will be given  compensation of Rs 1.5 lakh immediately and efforts made to provide alternative housing.” For the moment, all affected have been provided shelter in a nearby hostel.

Home Minister K J George, Minister for Forest and Ecology Ramanath Rai, Minister for Youth Services and Forest Abhayachandra Jain and MP Nalin Kumar Kateel visited the spot.

Hillock caves in

Two persons were killed when a hillock caved in at Pallangod in Adoor at Badiadka on Monday night. The deceased are Asma (38), wife of Muslim League leader M A Abdul Khader and his son Mubeen (12). The 100-foot high hillock collapsed on the house, killing the two on the spot. Hearing a loud noise, other members in the house ran to safety and escaped.  With the help of fire service personnel, the buried bodies were extricated from the earth.

Meanwhile, incessant rains continued to lash Madikeri, Napoklu, Sampaje, Virajpet, Hudikeri, Srimangala and Shanthalli. Except uprooted trees and damaged electric poles, no major mishaps were reported.

In the last 24 hours, Bhagamandala has received 107.40 mm rainfall. Madikeri town is filled with mist and temparature has come down drastically to 16 degrees celsius.

The inflow of water into Harangi reservoir has increased and the inflow was 3,920 cusecs. The water-level in the reservoir stood at 2,821.05 ft. A compound wall of a house belonging to Mohan collapsed at Bhagamandala. Retaining wall and toilet collapsed at Thyagaraja Nagara.

In Shimoga, inflow into reservoirs increased on Tuesday, following moderate rainfall in catchment areas across the district in the last 24 hours. 

The inflow into Tunga dam was 9,000 cusecs. Water level stood at 121.2 feet in Bhadra dam against the maximum level of 186 feet with an inflow of 6, 708 cusecs. Water level rose to 1759.05 feet in Linganamakki dam against the maximum level of 1819 feet, with an inflow of 16, 153 cusecs. 

Water for Bangalore

The fear of drinking water crisis in Bangalore and other surrounding cities seemed abating, as water-level increased by nine feet in the Krishnarajasagar (KRS) reservoir in the past four days. On Tuesday alone, the water rose by 3 ft, which was 72.25 ft against the maximum level of 124.80 ft.

Water level in Kabini reservoir in HD Kote taluk also rose by four feet within a day and stood at 2,265 ft on Tuesday. With the catchment areas receiving 16.2 mm of rains within 24 hours, the water level at Hemavathi reservoir increased by 1.5 ft (2,866 ft) on Tuesday.