BENGALURU: Heavy rain continued to lash many districts in coastal, inland and Malnad regions on Monday, and the meteorological department issued an orange alert for the next two days.
With no let-up in rain, a holiday was declared on Tuesday for anganwadis, schools and colleges in Hebri taluk of Udupi district and for schools in Belthangady taluk of Dakshina Kannada.
Rain was heaviest in regions bordering Western Ghats, especially temple town Kukke Subrahmanya in Dakshina Kannada district, where a bathing ghat was submerged for the second day on Monday. Devotees had a difficult time performing rituals and temple officials asked them to be cautious and not bring any valuables near the bathing ghat.
Rain pounded Uttara Kannada, with Yellapur and Joida taluks reporting incidents of landslides. A huge banyan tree fell on a house at Baigarakeri in Haldipur village of Honnavar taluk. The house was completely damaged, and six people were injured in the incident. Power supply was disrupted in the area for eight hours.
Hebbale bridge, which connects the temple towns of Horanadu and Kalasa in Chikkamagaluru district, was submerged as Bhadra river has been flowing above the danger mark. Hebbale bridge provides a shortcut route to Annapoorneswari temple and reduces travel time by 30 minutes.
Bhadra River Project, a dam built along Shivamogga-Chikkamagaluru districts, received massive inflow of water. On Monday, the water level reached 155.7ft against the maximum of 186ft.
Showers in Kodagu district, which were 50% less than the average rainfall till last week, has reached last year’s record following heavy rain in the hilly region. The average rainfall this year has reached 891mm, short of 58mm of last year’s figure of 949mm. Traffic remained affected in Bhagamandala for the second day because of flooding. A team of Kodagu revenue officers visited places where landslides and earthquakes were recorded.
