As rains continued to lash Coastal, Malnad, and parts of North Karnataka, flood alerts were issued in several places and people shifted from low-lying areas.
In Kodagu, local administration has managed to shift over a dozen families from the unsafe zone to the safe zone in Tora in Virajpet taluk, which faced a landslip in 2019 that claimed 10 lives. Meanwhile, heavy rain has been forecast in Kodagu on Friday with the IMD declaring an orange alert till 8.30 a.m.
Following landslips on Shiradi ghat, Hassan district administration has ordered restricting movement of vehicles between Donigal and Heggade. There will be movement of all vehicles between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. in a single lane. From 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., only government and private buses, cars, jeeps, two-wheelers and emergency vehicles will be allowed in the stretch. There will be a total ban on all other vehicles, the order said.
In North Karnataka, for the first time in the last 40 years, the water in Tungabhadra Reservoir near Hospete in Vijayanagara district reached the brim before the expected time owing to the continuous rains in the catchment areas, especially in the Western Ghats.
The reservoir level was 1,631.15 feet holding 98.453 tmcft of water against the Full Reservoir Level of 1,633 feet with a total capacity of 105.788 tmcft.
At Hampi
As the water discharge from the reservoir to the river was increased to over 1.35 lakh cusecs, some more monuments at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hampi, including Rama Laxmana Temple and Salu Mantapa, got heavily flooded on Thursday. Chakrateertha, Purandara Dasa Mantapa and the footbridge of Vijayanagara time were submerged in the flood waters on Wednesday.
Besides, the crest gates of the Bhadra dam at Lakkavalli in Tarikere taluk were opened on Thursday to release water as the water level reached its maximum level. The catchment area has been receiving heavy rainfall for the past few days.
