Rain, winds throw life out of gear in coastal Karnataka

Mangalore, Jul 13: Incessant torrential rains in Mangalore and other parts of coastal Karnataka have thrown life out of gear.

Nonstop rains and heavy winds caused huge damages in cities, towns and rural areas of the coastal Karnataka between Saturday evening and Sunday morning.

Fishing boats were reportedly stranded off the coast of Mangalore thanks to the steady spell of rain and strong currents.

Several tree branches fell in Urwa, Urwa Market and near the office of the Deputy Commissioner in Mangalore. Fortunately no major damage was caused because of the tree fall, said the personnel at the Mangalore City Corporation control room.

Many rivers in the region are overflowing due to the heavy rains. The Kumaradhara was flowing over the road across the bridge leading to pilgrim centre Kukke Subramanya, following heavy rain in several areas in Dakshina Kannada on Saturday.

According to reports reaching here, this has not affected the movement of traffic till Saturday night. However, traffic movement was affected on the Kadaba – Vitla Road after a branch of tree fell across the road. Fire and Emergency Services personnel have rushed to the spot to clear it.

The met centre has also issued a port warning, as the sea will be very rough and fishermen have been advised not to venture out to sea. Squally weather conditions prevail along and off the Mangalore coast.

Other parts of Karnataka

Other parts of Karnataka also received good rainfall over the last 24 hours, signalling that the monsoon has revived with gusto.

Moderate to heavy rainfall continued to lash various parts of Shimoga district on Saturday. Shimoga, Bhadravathi, Sagar, Hosanagar, Shikaripur, Sorab and Thirthahalli received intermittent rain since Saturday morning. Cloudy weather persisted throughout the day.

The water level at Linganamakki dam rose to 1,749.55 feet, as against the maximum level of 1,819 feet, since the catchment area of the dam received 15.4 mm rainfall.

The inflow to the dam stood at 2,873 cusecs, with no outflow. The water level in the Bhadra reservoir was 140.5 feet, as against the maximum of 186 feet. The inflow was 2,780 cusecs and the outflow 118 cusecs.

The dried-up Jog Falls regained its glory with incessant rain lashing the Sharavathi valley over the past two days.

Karnataka Power Corporation Limited Chief Engineer (Sharavathi Project) Rajamudy expressed confidence that power generation at the Linganamakki hydroelectric powerhouse might not be hit as the dam's catchment area has received heavy rain since Friday night.

Uttara Kannada and Belgaum districts have been receiving good rainfall over the past couple of days, while dank weather continued to prevail in the Mumbai-Karnataka region on Saturday.

Honnavar, Kumta, Ankola and Karwar have been receiving continuous rainfall, while it has been drizzling in Sirsi, Siddapur and Yellapur taluks. Bhatkal has also been receiving continuous rain. The Kanakumbi, Bheemgad, Nagaragali, Londa and Jamboti forest areas in the Belgaum district have been receiving heavy rainfall.

Following heavy rain in Subrahamnya region, Kumaradhara bridge connecting Subrahmanya submered on Saturday night disrupting movement of vehicles to pilgrim centre.

Meanwhile, the work of clearing boulders from a road between Bhagamandala and Talacauvery in the Kodagu district commenced on Saturday. PWD officials said it would take at least three days to clear the road. Heavy rain continued to lash the Kodagu district.