Mangaluru back to normal, rain damage in DK put at Rs 20 crore

A day after heavy rain wreaked havoc in Mangaluru and surrounding areas, life in the region appeared normal on Tuesday.

While traffic was as usual, roads were without any water-logging and business establishments functioned as usual.

Though the region remained cloudy, it hardly rained throughout the day. However, a few business establishments where electrical equipment were inundated in floodwater, may take a day or two for repair.

By 8 am on Wednesday morning, Deputy Commissioner Sasikanth Senthil handed over a cheque for Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased, who lost their life in rain related mishaps.

While Mohini (55) lost her life when the retaining wall of her house collapsed, Muktha Bai (80) lost her life after she drowned in her house when the rainwater entered her house.

Senthil said that Mangaluru city alone suffered a loss of Rs 16 crore and the total loss in Dakshina Kannada district due to rains is Rs 20 crore.

While 35 houses have been fully damaged due to rain (30 in Mangaluru), 42 houses have been severely damaged and 483 houses have been marginally damaged in the district.

“The compensation for the fully damaged houses will be given within two days,” he said and added that he has formed a committee to check whether there is any encroachment in main stormwater drains in the city and submit a report within three days.

Mangaluru received a whopping 368 mm rain in just six hours on Tuesday (156.8 mm average in Dakshina Kannada) and there was no time to issue even warning as rain lashed the city two days ahead of the monsoon, said Senthil and added that high tide worsened the situation. “There was high tide on Tuesday till 6 pm and as a result, water could not flow to both rivers Gurupur and Nethravathi as well,” he said.

Meanwhile, MP Nalin Kumar Kateel has put the rain related loss at Rs 100 crore and demanded the state government to release Rs 100 crore for rain damage relief works.