Heavy incessant rain that lashed in Ballari district on Sunday night caused flash floods in a couple of ‘nallahs’ (rivulets) in Sirguppa taluk. No casualties were reported from any part of the district.
Ballari district, which was till recently reeling under a severe drought-like situation due to deficit rainfall, began facing floods due to heavy rain. In a span of just six to eight hours, the district recorded an average rainfall of 68.9 mm. The highest rainfall was recorded in Hosapete taluk (112.1 mm) followed by Ballari and Sandur (86.6), Sirguppa (71.4 mm), Hagari Bommanahalli (51.3 mm), Kudligi (50.2 mm) and Hadagali (17.5 mm).
Twenty-three farmers, who were stranded in pump houses along the bank of ‘Kenchahalla’ near Darur village in Sirguppa taluk, and ten labourers who were digging a borewell at Rayarakere in Hosapete city, were rescued by the Home Guards and the Fire and Emergency Service personnel on Monday.
The farmers, who had gone to operate their pumpsets to lift water from the Kenchahalla to their fields, got stranded when the nallah began swelling following heavy downpour. On getting the information, Deputy Commissioner Sameer Shukla, Additional Superintendent of Police Vijay Dambal, along with Home Guard Commandant Shakeeb and their staff, swung into action and rescued the farmers.
At Hosapete, ten workers of a borewell drilling unit, were stranded in the Rayarakere, a low-lying area, adjacent to Tungabhadra dam, got inundated in the storm water. The stranded persons took shelter on top of the lorry and were later rescued by the Fire and Emergency Service Personnel.
Due to heavy rain, the Kamalapur tank near Hampi overflowed, inundating the paddy, banana, cotton, chilli, and sugarcane fields in the vicinity in approximately 2,000 ha.
According to reports reaching here, stormwater flowed into several houses in low-lying areas in Ballari, Sirguppa, Hosapate and Sandur taluks.
Sameer Shukla told press persons at Darur village that priority was accorded to rescue people. “Now that the stranded farmers have been rescued, steps will be taken to assess the extent of loss caused by rain to private and public properties,” he said.
