The Indian Meteorological Department has issued a heavy rainfall alert over coastal, Malnad and interior regions of Karnataka.
It said the present off-shore trough along the Karnataka-Kerala coasts and low pressure area over the coastal areas of Kutch and neighbourhood and associated cyclonic circulation could result in moderate to very heavy rains till July 21 over coastal Karnataka and Malnad districts.
Hence Manoj Ranjan, Commissioner, Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority, has said that districts should relocate people living in low lying and vulnerable areas. The KSDM also called for establishing a 24x7 emergency operation and control centre right up to taluk levels and review the preparedness of the district disaster management plans
It has warned that landslides may be triggered in vulnerable areas of Malnad and coastal districts besides waterlogging and flooding of low-lying areas. The districts administrations have also been instructed to ensure that hospitals have a secondary source of electricity to ensure that they are fully functional despite any outage.
Meanwhile, rains with gale has led to telephones and trees being uprooted in different parts of Kodagu district. The Forest Department and CESC personnel were deployed to clear the road for traffic. The authorities also visited the construction site of a barrage and removed logs blocking the flow of water as it was causing level to increase in the upstream.
Washed away
One person was washed away in a rivulet on Wednesday evening near Avandoor village in Madikeri taluk. His body was retrieved late in the evening. The victim was identified as Chinnappa (70). There have been reports of landslides from the hinterland of the district. Six families have been evacuated from Talatamane on Madikeri-Mangaluru highway due to the landslips, underlining the intensity of the rains.
Flooding
Many parts of Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru and Hassan have been receiving moderate to heavy rains for the last two days.There have been reports of landslides and flooding in low-lying areas. The inflow into the reservoirs has been on the rise, forcing the dam authorities to increase the outflow, after issuing a warning to people downstream.
According to Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Cell, Hosanagar taluk in Shimovagga district recorded high rainfall in the 24 hours before 8.30 a.m. on Thursday. The rain gauge at Nittur in Hosanagar taluk recorded 224 mm of rainfall, the second-highest in the State after Hebri in Udupi district, where the rainfall was recorded at 228 mm.
Shivamogga district received an average of 35.3 mm of rainfall against the normal of 24.1 mm. Chikkamagaluru recorded 30.1 mm, while the normal expected was 17.7 mm. The highest was recorded at Nemmar (157 mm) in Sringeri taluk. Hassan district registered 13.7 mm against the normal of 9 mm. Anemahal in Sakleshpur taluk recorded the highest of 132 mm. Minor landslides have been reported in Sakleshpur and Chikkamagaluru taluks, affecting the movement of vehicles.
Following the increase in inflow at Yagachi reservoir at Belur, the officers have issued a warning that water could be released from the dam at any time. They have appealed to the people downstream not to stay close to the river flow. Similarly, Harangi dam officials have issued warnings to people alongside the Cauvery in Arkalgud taluk as water could be released from the dam anytime.
