Floods, heavy rain claim 11 lives in Karnataka

Eleven people were killed on Wednesday as flood fury accompanied by heavy rain continued unabated in many parts of the state. As many as 237 villages in 32 taluks were affected as most rivers continued to swell dangerously.

As many as 28,883 people were rescued from low-lying villages in 11 districts of the state. The extent of land under water due to floods is set to increase as Almatti reservoir is expected to receive an inflow of up to five lakh cusecs. The inflow, according to Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Cell, will be the highest till date as per records available.

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“Anticipating this, Almatti authorities have maintained a higher outflow than inflow in the past few days,” said G S Srinivas Reddy, director, Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Cell.

“This would ensure that the dam has a cushion space as more water flows into the reservoir to reduce the extent of inundation,” he said.

The fatalities due to floods are expected to increase even as precautionary measures taken by authorities ensured that people at risk from floods were shifted on time.

A 15-year-old boy and a 57-year-old woman were washed away in Thirth village of Athani taluk, Belagavi district and Kundgol taluk in Dharwad respectively.

The teenager was identified as Basavaraj Kamble and the woman Kashayya Hosahallimath. Two people died as a house collapsed due to heavy rain in Gokak and Belagavi taluks.

A farmer, Lokesh (45), was electrocuted at Chikkamagadi village in Shivamogga district as he came into contact with a live wire as he was clearing rainwater that gushed into his plantation.

A woman and her daughter were also electrocuted in Athani. They have been identified as Parvathy Roopanoora (68) and Krishna Bai (30). A woman’s body was found floating in the river Tunga in Shivamogga city and the body is yet to be retrieved.

According to information available, three deaths were reported in Belagavi, two each in Uttara Kannada and Shivamogga districts and one each in Dharwad and Hanagal district.

Two bodies which were washed away on Tuesday were also recovered during the day.

A holiday was declared for schools and colleges for three days till August 10. Similarly, a two-day holiday was announced for Bagalkot and Uttara Kannada districts. A one-day holiday has been announced by the district administration in Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada, Shivamogga and a few taluks of Chikkamagaluru and Hassan districts.

Meanwhile, very high rainfall is forecast for coastal and Malnad districts for the next two days resulting in an improved inflow to reservoirs in Cauvery catchment area.

According to a report, a total of 1,048 km of roads were damaged apart from 140 bridges and check dams.

According to initial estimates, six government buildings, 22 water supply infrastructure projects and 2,571 electric poles were damaged.