Karnataka: Landslides snap road links; rain hampers rescue work

BENGALURU: Relentless rain for the fourth straight day, coupled with gusty winds, triggered landslides, flattened acres of standing crop and snapped road connectivity in large parts of Malnad, coastal Karnataka and parts of the north on Friday even as the threat of floods loomed larger, given pounding rain in neighbouring states as well.

Relief-and-rescue operations at Talacauvery in Kodagu district, following a massive landslide in Brahmagiri Hill, were hobbled by rain and more landslides. Five of a family, including the chief priest of Talacauvery temple TS Narayanachar, remain missing 48 hours after two houses and about 40 livestock were buried on the hillside.

Roads develop cracks, connectivity affected

District minister V Somanna, who is personally overseeing the operation, said: “Due to lack of connectivity and inclement weather, rescue teams faced a tough time. Only God can save those who are missing. We are hoping to resume search operations on Saturday if rain stops,” he said.

The Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) predicted extremely heavy rain with strong surface winds in Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Udupi, Kodagu, Shivamogga, Hassan, Chikkamagaluru and Belagavi districts till Saturday morning.

The government has released Rs 5 crore each to 10 flood-affected districts for rescue and relief operations. Chief minister BS Yediyurappa spoke to chief secretary TM Vijaya Bhaskar over phone from the hospital, where he is being treated for Covid-19, giving him the go-ahead to undertake emergency works without waiting for his approval. He also spoke to Somanna about rescue operations in Kodagu.

Flood alert issued

With rain lashing Wayanad in Kerala and Koyna in Maharashtra also for the past few days, flood alert has been issued to people living on the banks of the Cauvery and the Krishna, downstream of KRS and Almatti reservoirs. They have been told to shift to safer places. While 30,000 cusecs of water is being released from KRS dam, the inflow into Krishna touched 1.6 lakh cusecs by Friday evening, against 1.8 lakh cusecs of discharge. Floods appear imminent in many villages in Chikkodi and Rayabag taluks of Belagavi and Jamkhandi taluk in Bagalkot along with Krishna river stretch. Malaprabha and Ghataprabha rivers too are in spate, endangering Gokak and Khanapur taluk.

Road connectivity in many places has been disrupted while several roads have developed cracks due to landslides, requiring sustained repairs. Traffic on Charmadi Ghat continued to be stalled for the second day on Friday with fresh landslides reported from Alekhan area on the ghat. Minor landslides were also reported from Udupi and Karwar districts. In Belagavi, many bridges across Ghataprabha, Hiranyakeshi and Krishna have been submerged, disrupting connectivity between Chikkodi, Raibag, Kagawad and Athani taluks, and Maharashtra.

Crops damaged

Standing crops in thousands of acres in Kodagu, Belagavi, Mandya, Hassan, Haveri and Dharwad districts have been damaged due to flooding. “We will start a survey to assess crop loss from tomorrow (Saturday),” agriculture commissioner Brijesh Dixit said.