Houses destroyed as rain ravages Mangalore

Retaining wall collapses in Kunjathbail, two families have a lucky escape, 12 houses damaged in Udupi

Laxmi says she was in the kitchen when she heard the noise of retaining wall crashing. Photo: H.S. Manjunath

Even as the city recorded heavy rains overnight, construction labourers Narayan and Janardhan, and their families, had a providential escape when a retaining wall behind their houses caved in at Jyothi Nagar in Kujathbail on Tuesday morning.

“I was in the makeshift kitchen of our (under construction) house when I heard something falling. I just rushed out with my five-year-old daughter,” recalled Narayan’s wife Laxmi. The retaining wall built by Narayan’s neighbour Shekar fell on Narayan’s house. Luckily all family members were inside the house.

‘Nowhere to go’

The retaining wall had caved in five months ago, and consequently Narayan had invested nearly Rs. 5 lakh to rebuild it. It collapsed again on Tuesday. “With this I do not know where to go,” Mr. Narayan said. A portion of the wall fell on the prayer room of Janardhan’s house, which is adjacent to Narayan’s house.

Houses belonging to Harish in Permannur village, Dolly Pinto and Jesinta D’Souza in Amblamogaru village, and Stanley D’souza and K.C. Moiuddin in Talapady, have been partially damaged due to heavy rain. An autorickshaw was damaged after a branch of a banyan tree fell near Bappanadu Temple in Mulky on Monday night. Mescom authorities said heavy rains led to frequent power shutdown in several parts of the city.

A house in Keyyar in Belthangady taluk was completely damaged because of rainfall on Saturday. Similarly a house each in Bajal, Someshwar, Mulky, and Katipalla, was partially damaged due to rain.

Ranifall

Heavy rainfall has been recorded in several parts of Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada, and Udupi districts since Monday night.

As per the readings recorded by the Indian Meteorological Department till 8 a.m. on Tuesday, highest rainfall of 21 cm was recorded in Shirali (Uttara Kannada district) followed by 18 cm in Bhatkal.

Mulky in Dakshina Kannada received 14 cm of rainfall while Kumta in Uttara Kannada district received 13 cm of rainfall.

In Udupi:

Our special correspondent from Udupi reports:

As many as 12 houses, a cattle-shed, and a school were damaged due to heavy rains accompanied by strong winds in Udupi district on Tuesday. There were reports of 100-metre-long sea erosion at Tenka village.

Four houses were damaged in Thekkatte village. According to the Karkala Taluk Office, a portion of the roof of Government High School at Someshwarapete village in Nadpal Gram Panchayat collapsed and the loss was estimated at Rs. 20,000.

Udupi received a rainfall of 56.5 mm in the last 24 hours ending at 8.30 a.m. on Tuesday. Kundapur and Karkala towns received a rainfall of 83 mm and 88.8 mm, respectively.