No relief from wet weather

Bengaluru: Normal life has been thrown out of gear for the last 4-5 days following heavy rains lashing almost all the districts in the State.

A house collapsed near Ganjam village in Srirangapatna taluk of Mandya district on Wednesday. Luckily, none was hurt as the people in the house rushed out of it after hearing a big sound. In Mysuru, an old man was trapped inside the collapsed house but was rescued by the personnel of the Department of Fire and Emergency Services. This incident took place on Uttaradi Mutt Road near the Gun House Circle.

Body washed away in Kanva

The body of a person, who was buried on the bank of river Kanva, has been washed away in the rainwater at Hunasanahali village in Channapatna taluk of Ramanagara district on Wednesday.

In the absence of a burial ground, the villagers had buried the body of a person on the river bank. As the river swelled due to rain, the body floated in the rainwater. The villagers were shocked to see the body in river water. The current water level in Kanva Dam is 28 feet. The water level is likely to go up as it continued to rain in the district.

KRS filled to the brim

Meanwhile, the KRS Dam, the lifeline of people of Mysuru, Mandya, Ramanagara and Bengaluru, has filled to the brim again due to heavy rain in its catchment areas. The water level stood at 124.80 (maximum level) and inflow at around 18,000 cusecs. Around 19,000 cusecs of water is being released from the dam to the river for the safety of the 100-year-old structure. People living in low-lying areas have been asked to move to safer places as there is a likelihood of an increase in the discharge of water. Chief Minister Basavaraja Bommai had offered the ‘bagina’ to Goddess Cauvery on November 2.

The rains have destroyed the standing crops in many districts in North Karnataka and South Karnataka. The paddy crop which is ready for harvest had been destroyed due to inundation of farmland in Mandya district.

The Indian Metrological Department has sounded alert for Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Udupi, Hassan, Shivamogga, Kodagu,Chikballapur, Chitradurga, Davangere, Kolar, Mandya, Ramanagar, Tumakur, Belagavi, Bagalkot, Mysuru, Bidar Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Kalaburgi, Koppal, Raichur, Vijayapura and Yadgir about very heavy rains in the next 24 hours. The weatherman has said the cloudy weather will continue till November 24. The district administration of Chikkaballapur has declared two-day holiday (Nov 19 & 20) for all the schools and colleges in the district following the continuation of rain fury.

Three persons travelling in a car had a close shave as their vehicle was washed away in Markonahalli Dam in Kunigal on Wednesday. The dam has filled up for the second time this year. Three people were passing on the dam’s bridge which was inundated with water at around 3:30 am. The vehicle was swayed by the water. The dam staff informed the fire department personnel who rescued the three people struck in the car. The car was lifted with the help of an earth mover.

Chamundi wrecked by landslide

Intermittent rains have triggered another landslide atop Chamundi Hills in Mysuru in the early hours of Thursday.

This time the landslide is said to be deeper than the earlier three landslides on the stretch of road between Chamundeshwari Temple and Nandi monolith statue atop the hill. With this, the total number of landslides on the hill has gone up to four in the last one month.

The authorities of the Public Works Department are planning to adopt a new technology to repair the first landslide and it has not started yet. PWD Minister C C Patil had visited the spot last week for the spot inspection and he was told by experts to go for a new technology to fix landslides.

The frequent landslides have caused concern among the greens and they have urged the state government to take immediate steps before the situation gets worse. The soil on that particular stretch of road has loosened in the absence of a proper system for the flow of rainwater. This, according to experts, had been one of the reasons for the frequent caving in of the concrete road.

Following the concerns of ecoactivists about the Rs 100 crore project envisaged by the Tourism Department under a central government scheme, Co-Operation and District-in-Charge Minister S.T.Somashekar has asked to stop working on that project till the stakeholders are consulted. He has plans to hold a public hearing before giving the green signal for the project.

The cops have placed metal barricades on that stretch o