Moderate to heavy rains accompanied by thunder and lightning struck parts of Mysuru region on Monday night, providing a much-needed reprieve from the searing heat wave that had engulfed the region since the last few weeks.
However, one person was also killed in a rain-related accident when a motorist astride a two-wheeler returning from Chamundi Hills hit a tree that had collapsed by the road side, late on Monday night. The victim has been identified as Suresh.
The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) Commissioner C.G. Betsurmath told The Hindu that complaints of trees being uprooted due to gusty wind that accompanied the rain were received from 23 places across the city. The MCC’s emergency team "Abhaya", which was pressed into service, worked through the night to clear the road and pave way for traffic. Power supply was disrupted across the city for greater part of the night as a result and was restored by Tuesday morning.
There are reports of trees being uprooted on JLB Road, near the JSS Law College in Kuvempunagar, Sarawathipuram, N.R. Mohalla, Shivaji Road, Kuri Mandi in Kesare, near Gopalgowda Hospital, Sewage Farm Road, near Kamath Hotel on the Nanjangud Road, Vidyaranyapuram, Yadavgiri and other places. The Commissioner said one car was also damaged in Shaktinagar when a tree fell on it.
According to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, the district received 4.9 mm of rains on Monday night and it was fairly wide spread in Mysuru, but scattered in Chamarajanagar and Mandya. Harohalli in the Melahalli gram panchayat received 33.50 mm of rains, the highest in the district.
However, the cumulative rainfall for the period January 1, 2016 till April 26th, 2016 is 69.2 mm for Mysuru district against which it has received only 25 mm so far. This is 64 per cent below normal, underlining the gravity of the crisis.
