Rain intensity tapers in Karnataka, but overflowing rivers, dams still a worry, say officials

With the intensity of rain tapering in Karnataka, the district administrative officials said they are now able to control rain-related damages with pre-emptive and proactive measures and monitoring inflow and outflow of water into rivers and dams.

Speaking to PTI, Deputy Commissioner of Belagavi, Mohammad Roshan said, “For instance, we have already created an ample buffer in Almatti dam by letting off 3.25 cusec water in the last four days. Now we are ready for the outflow from Maharashtra, due to heavy rain in Satara, Sangli and Kolhapur districts, which will flow into the River Krishna and into the Almatti dam.” According to him, in Belagavi district, so far, 55 villages have faced partial inundation and about 7,000 people were shifted to relief camps.

“Water is now subsiding in the flooded areas and the decreasing trend in rainfall in the catchment area in Maharashtra has also resulted in receding water levels in rivers,” he added.

Deputy Commissioner of Uttara Kannada, K Lakshmi Priya said, since the rain has let off, they have not decided to declare a holiday for schools and PUCs.

“India Meteorological Department has also reduced rain status to ‘Yellow’ from ‘Orange’ in Uttara Kannada. Unless it rains heavily in the night, schools are going to remain open tomorrow,” said the DC to PTI.

According to her, Gersoppa, a village in Honnavar along the river Sharavati is likely to face flooding tomorrow as the Shivamogga district has released water.

“So, we have evacuated about 800 people, the 86 families from the village and the low-lying surrounding areas in anticipation of the flooding,” she added.

Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC), citing the Central Water Commission, has alerted the public in the low-lying areas along River Bhadravati as it is flowing beyond the danger level at Holehonnur in the Shivamogga district.

KSNDMC advisory on Wednesday urged people to move to safer places with their livestock.

Gurudatta Hegade, DC of Shivamogga told PTI that they are getting ready for possible flooding owing to heavy rains in catchment areas.

“At present, there is about 1.10 lakh cusec water flow in the river Bhadravati. We have shifted nearly 100 families from low lying areas. But as the rain has reduced in intensity, we haven’t declared a holiday for schools and PUCs as of now,” said Hegade.

Meanwhile, a video has been circulated in the social media, including ‘X’, of severely inundated Balehonnuru town in Chikkamagaluru district.

While despite several attempts, it was not possible to contact the DC of Chikkamagaluru, Meena Nagaraj, District disaster management professional, Deekshith, said the situation is under control in the town.

“It was mostly the low-lying agricultural lands that were inundated, people and property were not affected,” he added.

At around 6 pm, Tungabhadra dam management authorities issued an early warning, about possible up to 2 lakh cusec outflows into the river, from 9 am on August 1. The water is being discharged from three rivers – Bhadra, Tunga and Varada – said the advisory.

Nalin Atul, DC of Koppal, which will be affected by the release of water, told PTI that considering they have been given 15-hour notice, they have taken the necessary steps to prevent any mishaps.

“Downstream villages have been alerted about the water level increase and were told to avoid areas that are vulnerable. We are also monitoring the inflow and outflow,” added Atul.

At around 8 pm, a couple of ‘X’ users had alerted others of another landslide in Hassan district, in Shiradi Ghat near Sakleshpura, on Wednesday night.

DC of Hassan, Sathyabhama C, confirmed the incident, but said the situation was under control in a couple of hours.

“Vehicular traffic was disrupted for a while, but we got it under control,” she added.

Meanwhile, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts have reported sporadic damage to property and infrastructure and some minor losses of livestock.

According to the district authorities, widespread flooding has been reported in Puttur, Uppinangadi, Buntwal, Udupi, Kundapur, Brahmavara, Mulki, Padubidri, and Udyavara.

Low-lying areas in Udupi, Kundapur and Karkala taluks of Udupi district and Buntwal, Puttur and Belthangady taluks of Dakshina Kannada have experienced flooding in 22 different spots along rivers Swarna, Nethravathi, Kumaradhara, Venoor, Yenneholay, Gurupur, Kalyanpur and Sowparnika.

The Netravati-Kumaradhara rivers confluence in Uppinangady breached the danger level late Tuesday night, resulting in the flooding of Sahasralingeshwara temple. Despite warnings, sources said people thronged to see the confluence and several of them tried to take a holy dip.

DC of Dakshina Kannada, Mullai Muhilan told PTI that four houses have been damaged and about 70 electric poles have capsized. “Those who have lost their houses are entitled to a sum of Rs 1.25 lakh, fortunately, there were no reports of loss of life due to the heavy rains,” he added.

In Puttur, Adarsha Hospital was flooded for most part of the day on July 30, disrupting service to patients. But the hospital authorities said there were no major damages to the infrastructure as flooding was confined to the basement, which is being used as a parking area.

Meanwhile, Health and district in-charge (Dakshins Kannada) Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, who held an online meeting with the officials concerned, advised them to constitute a special response force for tackling emergencies. He also told officials to coordinate with the neighbouring districts regarding the traffic situation on the National Highways.