Holy dip turns tragic, 8 drown in N Karnataka rivers

The holy dips for Makara Sankranti turned tragic as seven people drowned in rivers and backwaters in Bagalkot, Belagavi, Haveri, Koppal and Uttara Kannada districts on Tuesday. All seven victims didn’t know swimming and had entered the water for bathing.

Mahantesh Mudukannavar (26), a resident of Devagoan, Kittur taluk, Belagavi district, drowned in Malaprabha river. The incident occurred near Ashwath-Lakshmi Narasimha temple. A boulder on which he was sitting moved slightly. He lost balance, fell down and drowned.

Amruth (13) and Sridhar (14), both residents of Rolli village, Bilgi taluk, Bagalkot district, drowned in backwaters of river Krishna at Chikkasangam in Bilgi taluk.

They had gone there with three other boys for the
holy dip. Many wells in the area have been submerged in the backwater. It is suspected that the duo drowned
in the wells.

In a similar incident, Bapugouda Chandragouda Hatti (18), a resident of Samshi Layout, Ron, Gadag taluk, drowned in Kali river in Dandeli, Uttara Kannada district.

Bharathgouda (24), a resident of Ragalaparvi, drowned in Tungabhadra river at Anegundi in Koppal district. He was caught in the whirlpool and hence could not swim back.

Raju Mudaknnavar (42), a resident of Kundur village, Shiggaon taluk, Haveri district, drowned at the merging place of Varada and Dharma rivers. The incident occurred at Kudal village in Hanagal taluk.

In a similar incident, Shankargouda Patil (17) and Naveen Sangappa (15), both residents of Nataraj colony drowned in the river near Valaballari in Sindhanur taluk, Raichur district.