Rain recedes but floods, landslides continue to rattle Malnad

The heavy downpour that lashed the coastal districts and Malnad subsided a bit on Monday but the severe monsoon spell has left a trail of destruction across seven districts.

Two people have gone missing after their car plunged into the overflowing Gowri stream in Chikkamagaluru on Sunday. In a similar incident on late Saturday night, two youths from Manjeshwar went missing after their car slipped into a stream near Baithadka, in Dakshina Kannada. The search operations in both incidents are underway.

A total of 24 houses have suffered partial or complete damage in Uttara Kannada while 12 houses were damaged in the Bidar district.

School bldg crumbles

Two days the roof of the government primary school at Gudi Kotbagi in Kittur taluk collapsed, and yet another government school building crumbled due to incessant rains in the Belagavi district. The wall of the government Marathi lower primary school at Mudewadi in Khanapur taluk caved in on Sunday night. Thankfully the building did not crumble during school hours.

Flood fury and landslides have continued to damage houses and crops and better road and power infrastructure.

Mounds of mud and boulders slipped into the road near Anashi in Uttara Kannada hitting the vehicular movement on the busy Sadashivgarh-Belagavi route. The road connects Karwar with Belagavi and Dharwad. The Konanuru-Ramanathapura road was closed for traffic for hours following the breach of Dwarasamudra lake in Hassan district.

Traffic on the Mangaluru-Bengaluru highway was hit for several hours on Monday following a landslide at Surikumeru in Bantwal taluk.

'Won't close Shiradi Ghat'

A fresh mud slip near Donigal stalled the traffic on the said highway for some time.

Public Works Minister C C Patil visited Donigal and took stock of the damage caused by rain. He instructed the officials to expedite the repair works and clear the stretch for traffic. Patil said that there's no proposal for the temporary closure of Shiradi Ghat for traffic. "Nearly 30,000 vehicles commute on the stretch every day. Thus, the road will not be closed for vehicular movement. We are thinking of one-way traffic, to take up repair works," he said.

Rain coupled with discharges from the dams has inundated acres of paddy fields, coconut and arecanut plantations in all three coastal districts and the Malnad region. Coffee planters in Kodagu, Hassan and Chikkamagaluru have suffered heavy damage due to landslides and mud slips triggered by the unyielding downpour.

Almatti, KRS swell

Meanwhile, relentless rain in the Konkan area of Maharashtra and heavy discharges from the upper riparian dams have spurred inflows into the Krishna river and its tributaries. Inflow into Almatti dam has crossed 1 lakh cusec-mark on Monday. As much as 75,000 cusec was released downstream from 18 crest gates.

A flood alert has been issued in Kaveri basin. On Monday, over 72,000 cusec was let into the river from KRS. The heavy discharge of water has partially submerged Paschimavahini temple, mantapa and Ranganathittu bird sanctuary.