Heavy rains that lashed the Malnad region since the last couple of days, have impacted lives. The low-lying areas are flooded, rivers have swollen, and inflow into the reservoirs is on the rise.
Several parts of Tirthahalli, Sagar, Hosanagar, Sorab, Sringeri, Mudigere, Chikkamagaluru, Koppa, Sakleshpur, Belur and Alur have been receiving moderate to heavy rains. There have been reports of landslides in Heggaru in Sringeri taluk. People in Gudde Thota are also worried about similar incident in their locality. Many trees were uprooted, obstructing the movement of vehicles near Kaimara near Chikkamagaluru and in some parts of Mudigere taluk. The Hebbale bridge on the road connecting Kalasa and Horanadu has been submerged in water, affecting vehicular movement.
Minister for Energy K.J. George, who is also in charge of Chikkamagaluru district, inspected the rain-hit areas of Sringeri constituency on Sunday, July 23. The Minister said the district administration was prepared to face the situations caused due to heavy rains. “There are incidents of landslides. Similarly, a few bridges have been damaged. We have sufficient funds to take up the restoration work,” he said.
The Malnad region received an average of 55 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours that ended at 8.30 a.m. on Sunday, against the normal of 19 mm expected on the day. Shivamogga received 67.4 mm of rainfall against the normal of 24.2 on the day. The highest of 216 mm was recorded at Agumbe in Tirthahalli taluk. Chikkamagaluru district recorded 50.1 mm against the normal of 17.7mm and the highest of 151 mm was recorded at Banakal in Mudigere taluk. Similarly, Hassan received 24.6 mm of rainfall against the normal of 8.1 mm. The highest rainfall of 85 mm was recorded at Chikanahalli in Belur taluk.
The rivers Tunga, Bhadra and Hemavati are in spate. The water level in reservoirs has been increasing. The water level at Linganamakki reservoir in Sagar stands at 1,770.70 ft against the full reservoir level of 1,819 ft. The daily inflow, as recorded on Sunday, was 52,374 cusecs. The water level at Hemavati reservoir at Goruru in Hassan taluk stands at 2,900 ft against the full reservoir level (FRL) of 2,922 ft. Following the heavy rainfall in the catchment area spread over Sakleshpur and Mudigere taluks, the daily inflow was recorded at 12,088 cusecs.
