Heavy rains batter Kodagu; Ponnampet taluk sees 200 mm rain in 12 hours

Bengaluru: Heavy rains pummeled many parts of Malnad and coastal districts in the last 24 hours raising fears of floods and landslides in the region.

While the swollen rivers have affected traffic in Belagavi district and parts of Mysuru region, landslides have hit vehicular movement at several places on Mangaluru-Bengaluru highway.

It's bucketing down in Kodagu district, where B Shettigeri in Ponnampet taluk received a massive 200 mm of rain in 12 hours on Wednesday (between 8 am and 8 pm). As many as seven places, including Virajpet, have witnessed more than 100 mm of rain on Wednesday alone.

The unrelenting rain has swelled rivers and rivulets in the hilly district. With Cauvery and Lakshmanatheertha rivers flowing above danger mark flood fears loom large on the towns and villages situated on river banks. Lakshmanatheertha river has meandered its way through farms and areca plantations at Srimangala.

Inflow into Harangi reservoir has increased on Wednesday prompting the dam authorities to discharge 10,000 cusec. With heavy rain forecast for next few days, the outflow is expected to go further up

The weather department has issued a red alert predicting heavy rain for Thursday.  The district administration has announced a holiday for schools and PU colleges for Thursday.  

With catchment areas experiencing unyielding showers, the Cauvery Neeravari Nigama has sounded flood alert on the banks of Cauvery and Kapila rivers in Mysuru district.

Many parts of Hassan, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga districts saw intermittent spells of heavy rain on Wednesday. Hemavathi reservoir in Hassan district clocked an inflow of 14,985 cusec on Wednesday. More than 15,500 cusec was released downstream. The dam is just seven feet shy of reaching its full reservoir level. Hettur witnessed 180 mm of rain while Hanbalu saw 110 mm in the last 24 hours. The tobacco farmers of Arkalgud are a worried lot with relentless rain leaving the crop inundated.

Up north, 12 bridge-cum-barrages in Belagavi district, including Kallol-Yadur, Malikwad-Dattawad, Karadga-Bhoj and Sidnal-Akkol, have gone under floodwaters of Krishna and its tributaries. The road traffic in Sankeshwar, Chikkodi and Nippani taluks has been hit badly.

Heavy showers since Monday evening have marooned vast tracts of farmlands, roads, bridges and a few residential towns in Khanapur, Belagavi district. Halatri nallah has partially submerged a bridge on the Khanapur-Hemmadga road in Khanapur taluk.

Several villages on the fringes of Kanakumbi, Jamboti, Londa and Bhimgad forests have been cut-off. Anjaneya temple at Habbanatti and Itagi's Marula Shankar temple have been completely submerged by the swollen Malaprabha.

Heavy rains battered several areas of Uttara Kannada located on the foothills of the Western Ghats, including Sirsi, Yellapur and Joida taluks.   Many parts of Mumbai Karnataka and Kalyana Karnataka regions experienced drizzling throughout the day.