Karnataka rains: Flood alert issued in various districts amid incessant downpour, landslides

While the people in Kerala are battling the floods and landslides across the state, many districts in the coastal region of neighbouring state Karnataka are facing a flood-like situation. A flood alert has reportedly been issued in a few of the districts, with heavy downpour causing inundation in the Mangaluru and Dakshina Kannada regions.

Local news channels airing dramatic visuals of landslides in Coorg have highlighted the grim situation in the entire region.

As per news reports, 500 houses have collapsed, leaving over a thousand people seeking refuge. Eight are feared dead while over a 100 have been reported missing. Electricity supply in most of Coorg district is down.

While the district officials are said to have been working tirelessly to ensure help is provided wherever possible, air support has not been provided, a resident said while speaking to News9. The temple in Bhagamandala, a major pilgrimage site in the region was completely inundated.

Meanwhile, a grim situation was reported in other regions of southern Karnataka as well. Torrential downpour resulted in the Kukke temple in Subramanya being flooded.

According to the State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, coastal Udupi district received up to 35.7 cm rain in certain parts over the past 24 hours.

Other coastal districts like Dakshina Kannada received 33.8 cm rain, Uttara Kannada 33.6 cm, south interior districts of Kodagu 28.8 cm, Chikkamagaluru 25.1 cm, Hassan 24.5 cm and Shivamogga 33.6 cm. A statement from the Chief Minister's Office read:

Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy directed Deputy Commissioners of Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Hassan, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga districts, which are receiving heavy rain over the last few days, to be prepared to take up relief work.

He also directed officials to visit the affected districts and assess the losses.

The northern parts of the state also received light to moderate rainfall. The chief minister ordered preventive steps to avoid mishaps and inconvenience to the public due to floods and landslides.

Due to the heavy rain, landslides were reported since Monday in several parts of Karnataka, particularly on the Bengaluru-Mangaluru route, leading to the suspension of services of several state-run buses and trains since Tuesday night.

Landslides were reported in Sakleshpur sub-district in the Western Ghats mountains in Hassan district, obstructing vehicular movement from Bengaluru to Mangaluru. The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation said:

All premium bus services from Bengaluru towards Mangaluru, Dharmasthala (in Dakshina Kannada district), and Kundapura (in Udupi district) have been cancelled due to landslides owing to heavy rain.

With the state's reservoirs in the Cauvery basin filled to capacity due to the bountiful rains over two months, the incessant rains now are causing rivers to overflow.

In the Cauvery basin, water from the Krishna Raja Sagara reservoir across the Cauvery river in Mandya district, Kabini reservoir in Mysuru district across Kabini river, one of the major tributaries of Cauvery, is being released over the past few days, flooding nearby towns and villages.

The released water has been flooding several farmlands and roads in the villages and towns around the reservoirs.

Due to high waves and heavy winds, the Bengaluru division of India Meteorological Department (IMD) in its weather advisory asked the fishermen to avoid venturing into the Arabian Sea.

The heavy rain in the coastal and south interior districts will continue for the next couple of days, the IMD said.

[With inputs from IANS]