Landslides at Hassan, over 150 houses flooded

Heavy rains and discharge from Harangi reservoir in Kodagu district brought down many houses, besides inundating over 150 houses in and around Ramanathapura in Arkalgud taluk in Hassan district on Friday.

Cauvery river crossed danger level at Ramanathapura and wreaked havoc at many nearby villages.

Residents stranded inside their houses were brought to safety using coracles. Though many of them were reluctant to move of their houses, MLA A T Ramaswamy personally visited and persuaded them to move to safety.

Victims at gruel centre at Yatri Nivas were shifted to schools and hostels at higher altitudes as water entered the centre.

Floods have affected drinking water supply as pump house supplying water to Ramanathapura is partially submerged. The district administration is using tankers for drinking water supply.

Meanwhile, 12 railway staff stranded at Yedakumari railway station near Sakleshpur were been safely evacuated by trekking experts and police on Friday. The district administration dropped its plan to airlift the staff in the wake of inclement weather.

Incidents of fresh landslides have been reported at Shiradi Ghat in Sakleshpur taluk.

The Mandya district administration on Friday constructed two temporary walls on either ends of the 220-year-old Wellesley bridge in Srirangapatna town blocking movement of people, animals and vehicles.

Flood situation continued to be grim due to discharge of 1.2 lakh cusecs of water from the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) reservoir forcing the administration to build temporary walls to avoid untoward incidents.

Two walls, each with a height of four feet, have been built using cement bricks.

"Safety measures have been taken to protect the bridge. The walls have been constructed based on deputy commissioner N Manjushri's instructions to prevent the movement of people, animals and vehicles. The walls will be retained till normalcy is restored," D Nagesh, Tahsildar, told DH.

"Considering heavy movement of people near the river banks, barricades have been placed. Boards cautioning people against venturing near the river have been installed at many places," he said.

The district administration has flashed flood alerts across villages downstream, besides ensuring safety measures.

Meanwhile, Gajanana Swami and four others, who are stranded at Gauthama Ashrama near Doddegowdanakoppal in the taluk, have clarified that they are safe and there is no need to worry.