Parts of the Belagavi-Kolhapur National Highway were closed due to heavy rain on July 23.
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Police diverting buses and other vehicles away from the Yamagarani checkpost after parts of the National Highway got flooded near Nippani.
Superintendent of Police Lakshman Nimbaragi requested officers in Tumakuru, Chitradurga, Davangere, Haveri and Dharwad not to allow vehicles towards Maharashtra via Belagavi.
Police officers were posted at the checkposts in Narendra, Hirebagewadi and Hattargi village.
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Mr. Nimbaragi said vehicles bound for Maharashtra and north India were being diverted to Hospet-Vijayapura and Hubballi-Vijayapura routes.
Dams, reservoirs, rivers overflowing
Officials issued a warning to farmers and fishermen on the banks of the Malaprabha, saying water from the Renuka Sagar dam in Belagavi district may be released any time, as the impounded water was filling up the reservoir to its capacity.
Water in the Renuka Sagar dam stood at 2,069 feet against its capacity of 2,079 feet. The total impounded water was around 28.42 tmcft against its capacity of 37.73 tmcft. Inflow was over 33,000 cusecs and outflow could go up to around 20,000 cusecs, officials said.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra opened the gates of Koyna dam to release around 20,000 cusecs of water into the Koyna river, a tributary of the Krishna river, which flows in northern Karnataka.
Discharge from the Koyna could reach 80,000 cusecs if heavy rains continued in the Konkan and Satara regions of Maharashtra, officials said.
The total inflow into the Krishna, at the inter-State border was around 1.15 lakh cusecs, officers said.
However, after adding inflow into the Krishna from other sources along the length of the river, the inflow into Narayanpur dam in Yadgir district was around 1.72 lakh cusecs. The outflow was around 2.58 lakh cusecs.
MLA’s house flooded
Water entered houses in Goods Shed Road, Shivaji Nagar, Maratha Colony, Mandoli Road, old P.B. Road and other low-lying areas.
Around 150 houses were so affected, officers said. Residents of around 15 houses in Peeranwadi in Belagavi left their homes and took shelter in the houses of relatives and friends.
A house belonging to Anjali Nimbalkar, Congress MLA from Khanapur, was flooded. She was not in the premises when water from the Malaprabha river entered the house, which is near Lakshmi grounds on the outskirts of the town. Some security staff and the domestic help, who were in the house, shifted to a safer location.
A vaccination drive in Deccan Medical Centre Hospital was disrupted after rainwater entered the premises.
Two roads between Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra were closed following mudslides in Amboli ghat, Chorla ghat and Panhala Road.
Water entered fields in Rakkasakoppa, Belagundi and Benakanahalli after the Rakkasakoppa reservoir began overflowing.
Several persons rescued by SDRF
State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel rescued at least six persons affected by heavy rains or floods. They rescued Sri Siddeshwar Swami and his associates who were stuck in the mutt premises in Kundaragi near Gokak.
SDRF personnel rescued Ganapati Mithari, a fisherman who got stuck in a shed when the Pandari river entered the fields near Londa. Reshma Talikoti, tahsildar of Khanapur, contacted her counterpart and other officers in neighbouring Uttara Kannada district. Forest officers at Ganesh Gudi adventure camp called SDRF personnel who used a boat to reach the spot. They threw a rope towards Ganapati. He held on to the rope and swam towards them.
SDRF personnel and police rescued Bharmu Patil, a young farmer who had climbed a tree to escape rising water levels in the Markandeya river in Waghawade village.
Deputy Commissioner M.G. Hiremath said the district administration had opened five care centres in Nippani and Sankeshwar taluks to house persons whose villages were flooded.
Jagadish Eeti, Sankeshwar town municipal council commissioner, and Ganapati Kanganoli, police sub-inspector, were engaged in shifting persons to the care centres. Access to Sri Shankarling temple and Sri Mahalakshmi temple in Sankeshwar was cut off.
CM directs Ministers, MLAs to oversee relief efforts
In the wake of heavy rains across Karnataka, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on July 23 directed all district in-charge Ministers and MLAs to help people affected by the rains.
The Chief Minister tweeted: “I direct all district in-charge ministers and MLAs to be present in their respective districts and constituencies to oversee rescue and relief efforts being carried out by district administrations”.
He told deputy commissioners of flood-affected districts to seek support from the government if necessary for undertaking rescue and relief measures.
“Spoke to DCs and reviewed the situation arising due to incessant rain in several parts of the state. State govt will extend all necessary support to the relief and rescue efforts, and assist farmers who suffered losses due to untimely rain and hailstorms,” he tweeted.
Later, following the inspection of various development works taken up across Bengaluru, Chief Minister B.S. Yeddiyurappa said, “I have been monitoring the situation by being in constant touch with them over the past four-five days. There is no cause for worry right now. If necessary, I will even have a video conference with them later.” The respective district administrations are on high alert to prevent any loss to life and property, he said.
He said that Deputy Chief Minister Govind Karjol, who is in north Karnataka, had been directed to monitor the situation in the flood-affected areas till July 25. “We are ready to face any situation, with all help extended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.
Following a rise in water level in Krishna river, the Chief Minister spoke to the Deputy Commissioner of Belagavi district and directed the official to shift people and domestic animals situated on the banks of the river to safer places.
On July 20, he had reviewed the situation in 13 districts and told deputy commissioners and chief executive officers to take precautionary and relief measures.
On July 23, he directed officials of Kodagu, Ballari, Hassan, Udupi, Shivamogga, Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada, Chikkamagaluru, Vijayapura, Kalaburagi, Mysuru, Koppal and Belagavi districts to utilise funds available in their accounts for undertaking relief work for people impacted by floods.