Talacauvery chief priest among 4 missing in Karnataka landslide

At least four people including the priest at Talacauvery, the origin of river Cauvery, have gone missing due to massive landslide at Bramhagiri hills triggered by heavy rains in Kodagu district.

Rescue teams have reached the spot to carry out search and rescue operations. According to Kodagu district administration officials, heavy rains at Talacauvery in Bhagamandala late last night led to landslips at Bramhagiri hills, in which two houses of the temple priests were buried.

As per the information provided by the rescue teams, one priest had vacated the house and shifted to Bhagamandala, while another was residing near the hills with his family, a release from the Kodagu Deputy Commissioner said.

"The information received is that four people are missing," it said adding the district's Advanced Rescue team has reached the spot. Locals said five people went missing, including Talacauvery Kshethra chief priest T S Narayana Achar, his wife, brother and two assistant priests.

According to official sources, following landslides at the Brahmagiri hills last year, authorities had asked the Achar to vacate. However, Achar, who was emotionally attached to the house, did not move out of it owing to lack of alternate facility nearby.

As the priest did not reach the temple this morning, the staff had gone to his residence, only to find mud and debris from the landslide.

Continuous rains and landslide have snapped the road connectivity to the region, affecting the rescue operations. "... one will question whether any house existed there... nothing remains there," a local said. BJP MLA K G Bopaiah, who has had long association with Achar told media that he feared that the priest and his family might have been washed away in the mudslide.

This is the third consecutive year that the Kodagu is facing floods and land slides.