Karnataka reels under heavy rain: Bridges under water, villages marooned

HUBBALLI: Heavy rain continued to wreak havoc in several parts of North Karnataka on Tuesday. People in several villages of Bagalkot, Belagavi, Raichur, Haveri and Ballari districts are now facing another threat of floods after just two months.


A rescue team is still searching for the body of a 16-year-old boy who was swept away in a stream at Chinchodi village of Devdurga taluk.

A schoolgirl at Rannabelagali village in Mudhol taluk read out a letter written to deputy chief minister Govind Karjol by standing in flood waters in which she urged him to visit her village and see their problems. A video of her reading the letter has gone viral on social media.

Five shepherds, stranded on an island surrounded by water following release of water from Tungabhadra Dam near Bagewadi village in Siruguppa, were rescued by the district administration. Shivalinga, 20, Mallu, 22, Hemanna, 19, Basavaraj, 20 and Maresh, 20, are all residents of Bagewadi village. They’d been staying there for two weeks to graze 600 sheep, but the place was flooded after release of water. On Tuesday, their parents called Siruguppa MLA MS Somalingappa and sought his help.

Ramadev Temple and Purandardasar Mantap were partially submerged, and Kampli-Gangavati bridge was inundated following release of water from TB Dam and heavy rain. In all, 67 houses partially collapsed in Hoovinahadagali taluk on Monday night.

The situation is grim in Bagalkot. Road connectivity between Hubballi and Bagalkot is disrupted following a rise in water level in Malaprabha river . Water entered the historical village, Cholachagudda. The Mirji-Mahalingapur Route Bridge in Mudhol taluk was submerged following release of water from Ghataprabha river. Mirji, Chitrabhanu Kote, Chowdapur and Bantanur villages have lost huge sugarcane and onion crops. In Haveri, crops on around 8,000 hectares have been damaged. Inflow into Tungabhadra river crossed 80,000 cusecs and 50,000 cusecs into Varada and Dharma rivers. A 14-year-old boy has gone missing in Hirekerur.

In Raichur, the situation is bad in villages on the banks of Tungabhadra and Krishna rivers. Thousands of acres of land, mainly paddy crops, have been submerged. The meditation place of Raghavendra Swamy at Bichchale is submerged. Sheelahalli bridge in Lingasugur taluk is also under water.

(Inputs from Mahendrakumar, Sushilendra Naik, Basavaraj Maralihalli and Mouneshwar Sonnad)