Showers claim 8 lives in 24 hours; Kodagu, DK almost cut off; Rs 200cr announced

coastaldigest.com web desk
August 17, 2018

Bengaluru/Mangaluru, Aug 17: At least eight people lost their lives in many others suffered injuries in rain related tragedies across Karnataka in 24 hours till Thursday night.

Four people were killed, while four others were injured in separate house wall collapse incidents in Kalaburagi, Bidar and Shivamogga districts.

A woman and her two daughters were killed on the spot after the wall of their neighbour’s house came crashing down on the room where they were asleep on Wednesday night at Hithal Sirur village, Aland taluk, Kalaburagi district. The victims are Lakshmi Bhai P Odeyar (30), Ambika (10) and Yellamma (8), both class 3 and 2 students of the local government school.

Masood (5), a resident of Konanduru, Thirthahalli taluk, was killed after the wall of his house collapsed on him on Thursday morning. He was having coffee when the incident occurred.

The district administration has announced Rs 5 lakh compensation to the victim’s family. At Muthangi village, Humnabad taluk, Bidar district, three members of a family were seriously injured after roof of their house fell on them on Thursday.

The body of Halesh Adiveppa Karigar, who was washed in flash flood in Tungabahdra river at Kavalettu village near Kumarapattana in Harihar taluk, was traced on Thursday.

At least three people were buried under soil when a hillock collapsed at Katakeri near Madikeri. Two of the deceased have been identified as Yeshwanth, 35, and Venkataramana, 45.

Several houses collapsed in a few localities of Madikeri city, following heavy rains on Thursday.

Gruel centres have been opened at Kodava Samaja and Gowda Samaja for those affected by floods in Cauvery and Harangi rivers in Kushalnagar and surrounding villages.

Several houses have collapsed due to heavy winds and showers in Somwarpet taluk of the district. People in many villages are abandoning their homes due to the fear of landslides.

Deluge in Kodagu

As many as 85,000 cusecs of water was released from the Harangi reservoir due to heavy inflow following copious showers in the catchment areas of the dam.

The Madikeri-Hassan state highway has been completely submerged following the release of water. Traffic has been prohibited on the bridge across River Harangi at Kudige in Kushalnagar taluk of Kodagu district, as cracks were identified there.

Amrita Coffee Curing Works has reported huge losses as water entered its premises at Kudluru. The Morarji Desai English medium school at Kudige has been flooded and students have been shifted to a safer place. The Cauvery Nisargadhama has been closed for visitors.

The residential area near the Harangi reservoir populated by workers who had come from Tamil Nadu during the construction of the dam has been flooded, rendering hundreds of them homeless. Their huts have been washed away.

Several houses have been flooded at Gonikoppal in the district following a flood in the Keerihole stream. The Gonikoppal-Ponnampet road faces the threat of being submerged.

Several acres of paddy fields were destroyed by the overflowing Kajur stream in Shanivarasanthe and nearby villages. Coffee estates have also been waterlogged in the area. Hoilday has been declared for schools and colleges in the district on Friday and Saturday.

Roads have gone under water, putting residents at the mercy of coracles to reach their destinations. Hundreds of paddy fields have been flooded in these villages.

The bridge connecting Virajpet and Madikeri at Bhetri has been flooded and vehicular movement has been banned on the bridge. Affected families were shifted to gruel centres at Hemmadu village.

Dakshina Kannada disconnected

Meanwhile, incessant rains and landslides have almost cut-off Dakshina Kannada district from the rest of the State with road and rail connectivity remaining affected.

The Shiradi (towards Hassan) and Sampaje (towards Madikeri) ghats have been closed following landslips. Hence, Charmadi Ghat (towards Mudigere) is the only available entry and exit. However, frequent traffic jams are being witnessed there.

Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has suspended operations of its premium services (Rajahamsa and Airavat) between the coastal areas and hinterland and is operating only express (Karnataka Sarige) services through Charmadi Ghat.

Private tourist bus service operators have routed their sleeper services via Charmadi and air-conditioned services via Balebare/ Hulikal Ghats.

While rail connectivity between the hinterland and the coastal areas continues to remain affected at least till Friday, services towards Kerala and Chennai too came to be suspended on Thursday.

A senior official of the Southern Railway in the Mangaluru region said that trains were being sent till Kuttipuram in Kerala while operations between Shoranur and Palakkad have been suspended till Friday evening. Services on the Kozhikode-Shoranur section have been suspended till further orders, the official said.

Though South Western Railway has announced diverting train services between Bengaluru and the coastal region via Salem and Palakkad till August 22, services may operate only if sections in Kerala become operational. The section between Sakleshpur and Subrahmanya Road is witnessing frequent landslips.

Rs 200 crore for rain-hit districts

Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, after reviewing the situation in rain-affected districts of Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Hassan, Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, and Uttara Kannada, announced that Rs. 200 crore would be released for relief measures.

Deputy Commissioners of these districts had been directed to submit a report on losses incurred, within two days. Based on their reports, a memorandum would be submitted to the Union government seeking aid. As many as 29 relief camps are providing shelter to 1,755 people.

Comments

Farooq
 - 
Friday, 17 Aug 2018

From our side we should help. contribute and do services with your own expertise

Ramprasad
 - 
Friday, 17 Aug 2018

Take necessory steps now onwards. Set Kerala as an example

Danish
 - 
Friday, 17 Aug 2018

Govt should provide helpline numbers immediately

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News Network
February 28,2020

Feb 28: The Supreme Court on Friday granted more time to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file a counter affidavit on a petition filed by Karnataka BJP leader and mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy seeking permanent relaxation on his bail condition to allow him to visit Karnataka's Bellari and Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Indira Banerjee listed the matter for further hearing on March 16 after the CBI sought more time to do file the counter affidavit.

Earlier, the apex court had issued a notice to the CBI and sought its response on the plea.

Last year, the Court had allowed Reddy to visit the Ballari district for a period of two weeks to meet his father-in-law, who the petitioner claimed had suffered a stroke and also allowed him to move a bail modification application seeking permanent relaxation of his bail condition.

In January 2015, the Supreme Court had granted bail to Reddy in an illegal mining case involving Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) on the condition that he will not visit any of the mining zones in Karnataka or Andhra Pradesh.

By the time he was granted bail, Reddy had already spent over three years in prison.

Reddy and his brother-in-law BV Srinivas Reddy, who was the Managing Director of OMC, were arrested by the CBI on September 5, 2011.

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News Network
April 3,2020

Mangaluru, Apr 3: The Dakshina Kannada district administration’s decision to ban use of private vehicles, excluding permitted categories, from Friday for effective implementation of lockdown, began showing results since morning itself.

Mangaluru City Traffic Police and Dakshina Kannada district police erected several pickets at vantage places on arterial roads to check those moving without a valid reason. Several two-wheelers were seized during the checking while a few car drivers were let off with a strict warning.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic), M Manjunatha Shetty, who was supervising a picket at Hampankatta, said that movement of private vehicles has drastically reduced in the city.

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News Network
April 20,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 20: As many as 59 people were arrested on Monday for attacking police and health officials at the minority dominated Padarayanapura in the city when they went to quarantine some people, police said.

"Fifty-nine people have been arrested (in Padarayanapura) and have been taken into custody. The people attacked the officials who had gone to quarantine some poeple who were the primary and secondary contacts of three COVID-19 patients," a police officer said.

A large number of people, mostly youth from the minority community poured on to the road on Sunday and thrashed the health workers who had gone to quarantine some people who were the primary and secondary contacts of the health workers.

The officials were allegedly beaten black and blue.

Some local residents who went to the rescue of these officials were also thrashed.

According to police, one among the arrested is a woman by name Firoza who had allegedly instigated the mob to attack the health and police officials.

Subsequently, a large number of police personnel were deployed in the area to avert any untoward incident and to quarantine those who are suspected to be infected with COVID- 19.

Blowing sirens, a strong contingent of policemen carried out a flag march in the area.

The Bengaluru police commissioner Bhaskar Rao later called on Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and briefed him about the situation in Padayarayanapura.

The violent incident drew angry reactions from various quarters.

Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said an incident like the one at Padayarayanapura will not be tolerated.

"I met Chief Minister and briefed him about the incident. He has told us to act strictly. I have told the same to my officials. We won't tolerate such acts by anyone. We have arrested 59 people. Five FIRs have been registered," the minister told reporters.

Bommai, who visited the area took the senior police officials to task for not being present on the spot when the incident took place.

"Where were you? What were you doing when the incident happened?" he questioned a senior police officer.

"We will demonstrate to the people what is containment zone, what is seal down and what is police action," he said.

Condemning the incident, Health Minister B Srimulu warned those who indulged in such activities.

"The inhuman act of attacking police and health workers in Padarayanapura is highly deplorable. Our government will take appropriate step against those indulging in the attack on health officials and police officials who had gone there to protect them," he tweeted.

BJP's firebrand MP Shobha Karandlaje reacted sharply.

"Seculars attack #CoronaWarriors when they were quarantining the secondary contacts of #Covid19 in Padarayanapura of BLR. While #HealthcareHeroes are working overnight to contain #CoronaPandemic, these morons are assaulting our heroes! Let's not be soft on these anti- nationals!" Karandlaje tweeted.

Meanwhile, the minority leaders called on Congress state president D K Shivakumar to persuade the people of the minority community to assist in identifying the COVID-19 patients or carriers.

Former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy too condemned the attack and demanded stringent action against the culprits.

The Congress MLA from the area B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan while condemning the incident, sought to know why the health workers and police officials went to the area late in the night and not in the morning.

"Why did the police and the health workers go in the night when I had told the BBMP Commissioner that I will take them at 10 am?" Khan told reporters.

Defending those who attacked the government officials, Khan said they were uneducated labourers who didn't know what they were doing.

Padarayanapura and Bapuji Nagar were among the first areas to be completely sealed as people were not abiding by the prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC.

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