Villages, roads marooned, rivers swollen across coastal Karnataka amid rain fury

News Network
July 9, 2022

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Mangaluru, July 9: Karnataka’s three coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada and Udupi continued to reel under monsoon fury today with heavy rain coupled with the overflowing rivers leaving scores of villages, vast tracts of farm land and highways marooned.

Rain coupled with ongoing work on the highway led to traffic congestion on the road at Kallada on Mangaluru-Bengaluru road for hours.

Many residents in Dakshina Kannada’s Ballurgudde, Kannur, are in danger of losing their homes after a landslide, with three of them facing imminent danger. The people residing in the houses have been shifted by the district administration. 

A concrete road near Pachanady, that connects to Bhatrakodi, was damaged, cutting off the residents. The landslide poses a danger for the ground level reservoir atop a hill. 

Landslides have occurred in Gandibagilu in Belthangady. Mudslides have also been reported at Charmadi Ghat.

Even though the intensity of rainfall has slightly receded in Udupi, the flood situation has remained grim at Navunda in Byndoor and a few villages in Kundapura and Brahmavar. The swollen Sauparnika river is unleashing a trail of destruction in the region.

Floodwaters from Kubja river have entered the sanctum sanctorum of Brahmi Durgaparameshwari temple in Kamalashile.

Many houses were damaged and acres of farmland have remained under water at Neelavara, Bavalikudru in Brahmavar. Sea erosion continued in Battappady and surrounding areas in Ullal and Maravanthe in Udupi.

Flood situation in Uttara Kannada, in particular, is grim due to relentless rain and heavy discharge from dams. Gundbal, Bhaskeri, Badagani and Mankuli Nagamastikeri villages have been inundated by an overflowing stream. Many people from the flood-hit villages in Bhatkal and Honnavar taluks have been evacuated to relief centres.

Traffic was hit on National Highway 66 after a portion of the hill caved in on the road near Sarpanakatte check-post in Bhatkal taluk. Similarly, vehicular movement on highway near Araga and Chandiya in Karwar taluk was affected after a heavy discharge from Kadra dam flooded the road.

With the weather department predicting heavy rain in the next 24 hours, schools and colleges in Karwar, Ankola, Kumta, Honnavar, Bhatkal, Sirsi, Siddapur and Joida taluks have been declared holiday on Saturday.

Bhatkal recorded a maximum rain of 21.8 cm in the last 24 hours (ending 8.30 am on Friday) while Karwar and Honnavar received 20.5 and 19.8 cm respectively.

Mudslides continued to rattle Kodagu. Heaps of mud caved in on Madikeri-Mangaluru road near Karthoji hitting traffic badly. Mudslides were also reported near the hockey stadium in Madikeri. 

The concrete slab of the retaining wall of Kodagu DC’s office has slipped, triggering a fear of collapse. Many houses across the district have been damaged in the rain in the past one week. MP Pratap Simha visited parts of Kodagu and took stock of the situation.

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News Network
November 28,2025

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Mangaluru, Nov 28: Karnataka Health Minister and Dakshina Kannada district in-charge minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Friday handed over Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, highlighting the severe distress faced by farmers due to crashing crop prices.

PM Modi arrived at the Mangaluru International Airport en route to Udupi, where Gundu Rao welcomed him and submitted the letter. The chief minister’s message stressed that farmers are suffering heavy losses because maize and green gram are being bought far below the Minimum Support Price (MSP). The state urged the Centre to immediately begin procurement at MSP.

According to the letter, Karnataka has a bumper harvest this year—over 54.74 lakh metric tons of maize and 1.98 lakh metric tons of green gram—yet farmers are unable to secure fair prices. Against the MSP of ₹2,400/MT for maize and ₹8,768/MT for green gram, market rates have plunged to ₹1,600–₹1,800 and ₹5,400 respectively.

The chief minister has requested the Centre to:

• Direct NAFED, FCI and NCCF to start MSP procurement immediately.
• Ensure ethanol units purchase maize directly from farmers or FPOs.
• Increase Karnataka’s ethanol allocation, citing high production capacity.
• Stop maize imports, which have depressed domestic prices.
• Relax quality norms for green gram, allowing up to 10% discoloration due to rains.

The letter stresses that MSP is crucial for farmer dignity and income stability and calls for swift central intervention to prevent a deepening crisis.

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News Network
December 2,2025

Puttur: The long-cherished dream of a government medical college in Puttur has moved a decisive step closer to reality, with the Karnataka State Finance Department granting its official approval for the construction of a new 300-bed hospital.

Puttur MLA Ashok Kumar Rai announced the crucial development to reporters on Monday, confirming that the official communication from the finance department was issued on November 27. This 300-bed facility is intended to be the cornerstone for the establishment of the government medical college, a project announced in the state budget.

Fast-Track Implementation

The MLA outlined an aggressive timeline for the project:

•    A Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the hospital is expected to be ready within 45 days.

•    The tender process for the construction will be completed within two months.

Following the completion of the tender process, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is scheduled to lay the foundation stone for the project.

"Setting up a medical college in Puttur is a historical decision by the Congress government in Karnataka," Rai stated. The project has an estimated budget allocation of Rs 1,000 crore for the medical college.

Focus on Medical Education Department

The MLA highlighted a key strategic move: requesting the government to implement the hospital construction through the Medical Education Department instead of the Health and Family Welfare Department. This is intended to streamline the entire process of establishing the full medical college, ensuring the facilities—including labs, operation theatres, and other necessary infrastructure—adhere to the strict guidelines set by the Medical Council of India (MCI). The proposed site for the project is in Bannur.

Rai also took the opportunity to address political criticism, stating that the government has fulfilled its promise despite "apprehensions" and "mocking and criticising" from opposition parties who had failed to take similar initiatives when they were in power. "Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has kept his word," he added.

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News Network
November 30,2025

The United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) has condemned the Israeli regime for enforcing a policy of “organized torture” against Palestinians.

In a report published on Friday, CAT stated that the occupying regime enforces a deliberate policy of “organized and widespread torture and ill-treatment” against Palestinian abductees, particularly since October 7, 2023, when Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza.

The committee expressed “deep concern over repeated severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, water-boarding, use of prolonged stress positions [and] sexual violence” inflicted on Palestinians.

Palestinian prisoners were degraded by “being made to act like animals or being urinated on,” systematically denied medical care, and subjected to excessive restraints, “in some cases resulting in amputation,” the report added.

CAT also condemned the routine application of “unlawful combatants law” to justify the prolonged detention without trial of thousands of Palestinian men, women, and children.

More than 10,000 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently held in Israeli prisons, according to Palestinian and international human rights groups, with 3,474 Palestinians in “administrative detention,” meaning they are imprisoned without trial for indefinite periods.

The report highlighted the “high proportion of children who are currently detained without charge or on remand,” noting that while Israel sets the age of criminal responsibility at 12, even younger children have been abducted.

Children designated as security prisoners face severe restrictions on family contact, may be subjected to solitary confinement, and are denied access to education, in clear violation of international law.

The committee further suggested that Israel’s policies across the Occupied Territories constitute collective torture against the Palestinian population.

“A range of policies adopted by Israel in the course of its continued unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading living conditions for the Palestinian population,” the report said.

On Thursday, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas condemned the systematic killing and torture of Palestinian abductees in Israeli prisons, urging international action to halt these abuses.

Citing human rights data, Hamas stated that 94 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli prisons since the start of Tel Aviv’s genocidal war on Gaza.

“This reflects an organized criminal approach that has turned these prisons into direct killing grounds to eliminate our people,” the resistance movement said.

Hamas called on the international community, the UN, and human rights organizations to immediately pressure Israel to end crimes against prisoners and uphold their rights as guaranteed by all international conventions and norms.

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