Two persons washed away in Cauvery waters

Two persons were washed away in the Cauvery waters in separate incidents reported at Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) and Sangama in Srirangapatna during the last 24 hours while the Chamarajanagar district adminsitration has decided to keep Bharachukki and Hogenakkal waterfalls out of bounds for the general public as a precautionary measure. The police said that a youth, a resident of Paduvarahalli in Mysuru, who visited KRS along with his friends to watch the spectacle of water gushing out of the crest gates on Tuesday, was swept away in the currents when he jumped into the river a few hundred metres away from the reservoir. His body is yet to be found, according to officials from KRS police station, where a complaint has been lodged. Similarly, another youth from Bengaluru, who was on a visit to Sangam, the confluence of two branches of Cauvery at Srirangapatna, was swept away in the waters when he decided to step into the river for a bath on Wednesday. Srirangapatna Town police said the youth was part of a family from Bengaluru, which was visiting Srirangapatna. Search is under way for him, the police added. It may be mentioned here that a large number of visitors have been flocking to different waterbodies along the Cauvery river since Monday to catch a glimpse of the large quantities of water after the reservoirs reached the brim and the authorities began discharging water from them. Meanwhile, the Chamarajanagar district administration has decided to keep the Bharachukki waterfalls in Kollegal taluk and Hogenakkal water falls in Hanur taluk temporarily out of bounds for the general public in view of the rising water level in the Cauvery and Kabini following heavy rainfall. Chamarajanagar Deputy Commissioner Charulatha Somal said that the decision to bar entry of the general public to the waterfalls at Bharachukki and at Hogenakkal, besides Wesley bridge, also in Kollegal, had been taken as a precautionary measure. The waterbodies in Chamarajanagar district too had begun drawing a lot of visitors ever since the authorities began discharging water from KRS and Kabini reservoirs after Wayanad region in Kerala and Kodagu district in the State witnessed copious rainfall leading to filling of Kabini and KRS. While the Water Resources Department authorities released more than 53,300 cusecs of water from KRS on Wednesday morning, which had been brought down to about 33,600 cusecs by Wednesday evening, the discharge of water from Kabini reservoir was around 38,000 cusecs on Wednesday. The heavy rainfall in the catchment areas and the discharge of water from the reservoirs had led to a rise in water levels in the rivers that was bringing hordes of tourists of water bodies. “To prevent any untoward incident, entry of visitors to the waterbodies has been temporarily banned as a precautionary measure,” Ms. Somal said in a statement. The order on banning entry of visitors to the waterfalls issued on Tuesday will remain in force till further orders, according to the Deputy Commissioner.