A red alert has been declared in Alnavar and Navalgund taluks of Dharwad district as incessant heavy downpour continued to trigger destruction and flooding on Thursday. Additional Chief Secretary and secretary in-charge of the district V. Manjula visited a few villages and directed the officials to start providing necessary medical aid and other relief. Deputy Commissioner M. Deepa convened an emergency meeting of officials and instructed them to be alert round the clock and step up rescue operations and relief works.
Ms. Deepa said that the district had received a record 154 mm rainfall, the highest in the last 10 years. On Wednesday, the district recorded 121 mm rainfall. Alnavar taluk, which is on the edge of the Western Ghats, has been the most affected as tanks and lakes there are brimming with water due to the large inflow of storm water from adjoining Khanapur and other areas that have received heavy rainfall.
“Similarly, the Bennihalla and the Tuprihalla rivulets are in spate posing threat to 15 villages in Navalgund taluk. The district administration has taken all necessary steps to tackle the situation and round-the-clock vigilance is being maintained in these areas,” she said.
Several areas were submerged in various parts of the district, including the Hubballi-Dharwad city limits, after rain battered the region for the sixth day in a row. The overflowing Unkal Lake washed away a bridge in Hubballi and inundated several localities downstream. Residents woke up in the early hours to find water entering their houses and several residents residing on the banks of the storm-water drain (Karki Halla) immediately left their houses with whatever they could salvage. They returned on Thursday evening after the waters receded.
According to official reports, the number of deaths rose to three as two more persons were killed when their houses collapsed.
Channamma Ramesh Walikar of Gamanagatti village in Dharwad taluk was killed as the wall of her house collapsed on her while she was asleep in the early hours of Thursday, while Fakrusab Nadaf (32), a resident of Haliyal of Uttara Kannada district, was washed away in the stream along with his pick-up vehicle near Murakatti village of Dharwad taluk on Thursday morning. The body has been traced. This apart, 13 head of cattle have been killed in flood-related mishaps in the district till date.
Floods have caused damage to transport infrastructure in several parts. The road between Dharwad and Savadatti has caved in near Inamhongal village and a bridge nearby collapsed on Thursday morning disrupting vehicular movement. Traffic between Dharwad and Belagavi resumed on Thursday. However, the police have warned motorists to be cautious while crossing flooded roads.
Rescue operations
A team of 25 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) reached Dharwad from Bagalkot on Thursday morning and launched rescue operations in Alnavar and Ingalahalli in Kundgol taluk.
As many as 12 people who were stuck in the Benne Halla flash floods were rescued. In Ingalahalli, four technicians of HESCOM, who were deployed to repair a defunct transformer near the University of Agricultural Sciences in Dharwad and were stuck in the floodwaters, were rescued. Similarly, seven persons who were stuck in the Tupparihalla floodwaters in Uppinabetageri village were also brought to safety using boats.
The district administration has opened more rehabilitation centres. So far, 27,699 people of 7,650 families have been provided shelter in 71 rehabilitation centres in the district, the officials said.
