Reports of suffering and misery continued to emerge out of rain-ravaged Kodagu on Sunday while rescue teams remained pressed into service to assist persons stranded in isolated and hilly terrains of the region.
Rescue teams had been deployed in the worst-hit Makkandur in Madikeri, besides Kallur in Somwarpet and other affected areas on Sunday. More than 1,000 personnel from the Army, National and State Disaster Response Forces, Civil Defence Teams, Fire and Emergency Personnel had been deployed for rescue and relief operations.
“The rescue teams are responding to the calls that we are receiving”, said Additional Deputy Commissioner, Kodagu, Praveen Kumar, who is among the officials co-ordinating the rescue and relief operations.
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On Saturday, a total of 317 persons were rescued and shifted to safer places. On Sunday, people stranded around Makkandur village are being rescued by personnel from the Army and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), according to a statement from Srividya, Deputy Commissioner of Kodagu.
Food has been provided to the 31 relief shelters, where several rescued people had been accommodated.
Though overnight rains had been reduced to a steady drizzle on Sunday morning, weather forecast indicated heavy rains over isolated places in the ghat areas. The remaining areas were likely to have moderate rains, associated with strong surface winds, over Kodagu and adjoining Dakshina Kannada districts during the next 24 hours, according to a note shared by Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru Abhiram G Shankar.
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A heart-warming video showing the rescue of a two month old infant, cradled in the arms of a volunteer hovering over the river during a zipline crossing, was attributed to an operation carried out by the rescue team in Thanthipala in Kodagu. Elsewhere in Madikeri, people, whose houses collapsed in the rain, were picking up their valuables before shifting to different places.
“About 50 to 60 houses in Indira Nagar and Chamundeshwari Nagar behind Raja Seat in Madikeri had collapsed over the last few days. The relief centres will provide such families only shelter and food. They can neither take their household articles with them nor leave them behind”, said Muneer, a resident of Kodagu, who was assisting the families in distress.
Volunteers were assisting them in shifting the furniture and other materials from the houses of their relatives or some temporary accommodation they had arranged for themselves, he added.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy will continue his aerial survey of rain affected areas of Kodagu district for the second day on Sunday. “If weather permits, he will land in Periyapatna helipad and oversee relief and rescue operations”, said a statement.
Mr. Kumaraswamy, who stayed in Mysuru overnight, held a discussion with Kodagu DC over phone on the situation in the district.
Meanwhile, the Milk Producers Union has provided milk, rice, dal and pulses to the people of Kodagu.