Kodagu, coastal areas under rain seige

River Sauparnika overflows on a road in Kundapur, Udupi district.

Torrential rain continued to lash Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Kodagu and Chikkamagaluru districts on Tuesday, leaving a trail of destruction in the form of landslides, house collapse and tree uproot.

With India Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing red alert in DK and Udupi for August 7 and 8, administration of DK, Udupi, Kodagu district has declared holiday for educational instiututions on Wednesday. Fishermen have been advised not to venture into sea for three days.

Collapse of retaining walls, uprooting of trees, landslides were reported from different parts of Dakshina Kannada district. Sea erosion has intensified at Someshwara, Kulai and Chitrapura and and fisheries road at Bettampady in Someshwara has been damaged. Power supply was disrupted in several parts of the district.

The low-lying areas in Gurupura, Vittal, Bellare, Uppinangady were marooned. All the gates of Thumbe dam have been opened. Snanaghatta in Kukke Subrahmanya Temple has been submerged. There were landslides on the newly laid four-lane road leading to Dharmasthala disrupting movement of vehicles for few hours.

Heavy rain coupled with gusty wind, lightning and thunder disrupted normal life in Udupi district. River Seetha overflowed near Hebri and water gushed onto Udupi-Theerthahalli National Highway disrupting movement of vehicles.

Kodagu

Heavy rain in Kodagu has resulted in flood like situation. Water-level in Rivers Cauvery and Lakshmanatheertha have increased drastically.

With incessant rain lashing Brahmagiri range, Bhagamandala was marooned. Road connectivity had been lost between Bhagamandala-Talacauvery and Bhagamandala-Napoklu. Boats have been pressed to service to ferry local residents.

Tourists have been advised not to leave for Talacauvery. Over hundreds of acre paddy fields have been submerged in different parts of the district. Incessant rain lashed Virajpet, Ponnampet, Srimangala and Kutta in Kodagu.

With rain lashing Kodagu, people are in panic. Those who were affected by landslides last year are already leaving for their relatives houses and to safer areas. The district administration is on high alert at 33 vulnerable spots that are prone to landslides and flood. NDRF personnel have been deployed at various vulnerable areas.