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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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Agencies
July 5,2020

The deadly coronavirus that entered India while there was still nip in the air has beaten rising mercury, humid conditions, unique Indian genome and has entered monsoon season with more potency as fresh cases are only breaking all records in the country.

India recorded a single-day spike of record 24,850 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, taking its total tally to 6.73 lakh corona-positive cases.

Top Indian microbiologists were hopeful in March that after the 21-day lockdown, as summer approaches, the rise in temperature would play an important role in preventing the drastic spread of COVID-19 virus in India.

Several virologists hinted that by June this year, the impact of COVID-19 would be less than what it appeared in March-April.

The claims have fallen flat as the virus is mutating fast, becoming more potent than ever.

According to experts, the novel coronavirus is a new virus whose seasonality and response to hot humid weather was never fully understood.

"The theory was based on the fact that high temperatures can kill the virus as in sterilisation techniques used in healthcare. But these are controlled environment conditions. There are many other factors besides temperature, humidity which influence the transmission rate among humans," Dr Anu Gupta, Head, Microbiologist and Infection Control, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, told IANS.

There is no built-up immunity to COVID-19 in humans.

"Also, asymptomatic people might be passing it to many others unknowingly. New viruses tend not to follow the seasonal trend in their first year," Gupta emphasized.

Globally, as several countries are now experiencing hot weather, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported a record hike in the number of coronavirus cases, with the total rising by 2,12,326 in 24 hours in the highest single-day increase since COVID-19 broke out.

So far over 11 million people worldwide have tested positive for the disease which has led to over 5,25,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The US remained the worst-hit country with over 28 lakh cases, followed by Brazil with 15.8 lakh.

According to Sandeep Nayar, Senior Consultant and HOD, Respiratory Medicine, Allergy & Sleep Disorders, BLK Super Speciality Hospital in New Delhi, whether temperature plays a role in COVID-19 infection is highly debated.

One school of thought said in the tropical regions of South Asia, the virus might not thrive longer.

"On the other hand, another school of thought has found that novel Coronavirus can survive in a hot and humid environment and tropical climate does not make a difference to the virus. According to them, this is what distinguishes the novel coronavirus from other common viruses, which usually wane in hot weather," stressed Nayar.

Not much has been studied in the past and no definite treatment or vaccine is available to date.

"Every day, new properties and manifestation of the disease come up. As of now, the only way to prevent this monster is by taking appropriate precautions. Hand hygiene, social distancing, cough etiquette and face masks definitely reduce spread of COVID-19 infection," Nayar told IANS.

Not just top Indian health experts, even Indian-American scientists had this theory in mind that sunshine and summer may ebb the spread of the coronavirus.

Ravi Godse, Director of Discharge Planning, UPMC Shadyside Pennsylvania in the US told IANS in April: "In the summer, the humidity can go up as well, meaning more water drops in the air. If the air is saturated with water and somebody sneezes virus droplets into such air, it is likely that the droplets will fall to the ground quicker, making them less infectious. So the short answer is yes, summer/sunshine could be bettera.

According to Dr Puneet Khanna, Head of Respiratory Medicine and Pulmonology, Manipal Hospital, Delhi, COVID-19 death rates are not too different in tropical countries but since the disease affected them late it was yet to show its peak in these areas.

"The virus can survive well in hot and humid countries and this is proven now," he stressed.

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News Network
July 28,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 27: Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka crossed the grim milestone of one lakh Covid-19 cases while Tamil Nadu logged nearly 7,000 fresh infections for the third straight day on Monday as the sharp spike in recent weeks continued unabated in the southern states.

Kerala's tally inched toward the 20,000-mark and Telangana saw the total infection count beach the 55,000-mark while the cumulative cases rose to 2,872 in the tiny union territory of Puducherry as the six together added 20,629 fresh cases and their aggregate shot to 5.02 lakh.

A total of 291 deaths were reported on Monday from these states with Tamil Nadu accounting for the maximum of 77 closely followed by Karnataka with 74 fatalities, according to bulletins issued by respective states.

The cases have been rising in the region since last month when the lockdown norms were eased and thousands of people returned even as testing had been given a push.

The worst-hit was Andhra Pradesh where the Covid-19 count doubled in just eight days as the day's 6,051 cases pushed the tally to 1,02,349. It had crossed the 50,000-mark on July 20.

East Godavari district registered a high of 1,210 cases. After 16,86,446 tests were completed on Monday, the Covid-19 positivity rate in the state shot past the 6 per cent mark, a record high.

From 15,252 confirmed cases on July 1, the number swelled to the current level as every district in the state has been witnessing a severe surge in the pandemic.

The toll rose to 1,090 with 49 fresh deaths. The state now has 51,701 active cases after a total of 49,558 patients had recovered, a bulletin said.

Covid-19 cases in Karnataka spiralled to 1,01,465 as the state reported the biggest single-day spike of 5,324 new infections and 75 fatalities, taking the death toll to 1,953, the health department said.

The day also saw 1,847 patients getting discharged, taking the cumulative recoveries to 37,685.

Tamil Nadu reported highest single-day spike of 6,993 cases, taking the tally to 2,20,716 while 77 deaths propelled the toll to 3,571.

The state has added 45,038 cases since last Monday while the active cases stood at 54,896 and recoveries touched 1,62,249, including 5,723 people discharged today.

Chennai accounted for 95,857 cases of the state's tally.

In Kerala, at least 43 health workers were among the 702 people who tested positive while 745 others recovered, as the state's total infection tally touched 19,727.

The death toll climbed to 63 with two more fatalities from Kozhikode and Kottayam districts, while 9,611 people were presently under treatment, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

A total of 10,054 patients have recovered so far and over 1.55 lakh people were under observation, he told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.

Telangana's total infection count rose to 55,532 with the addition of 1,473 cases, including 506 from Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) areas, a government bulletin said on Monday, providing data as of 8 pm on Sunday.

With eight more deaths, the Covid-19 toll in the state rose to 471. The death rate was 0.85 per cent as against 2.3 per cent in the country, it said.

As many as 42,106 people have recovered from the infection so far, while 12,955 were under treatment.

Puducherry logged 86 new cases, pushing the overall tally to 2,872 and the toll increased to 43 with three more deaths. It has 1,109 active cases, an official statement said.

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News Network
March 11,2020

Bhopal, Mar 11: After meeting with 19 party MLAs who have tendered their resignations, Congress leader Sajjan Singh Verma on Wednesday said they are neither willing to support Jyotiraditya Scindia nor in favour of joining BJP as they were "misled and taken to Bengaluru" in Karnataka.

"Nobody is ready to go with Scindia ji. They said they were misled and taken to Bengaluru, most of them said they are not ready to join BJP," Verma told media persons on being asked about the 19 MLAs.

"I just came from Bengaluru and now I am going to Jaipur. Besides 5-6 ministers and one MLA, we all are going to Jaipur. They (MLAs) have said they have the blood of Congress and they will remain in the party. 
Since Scindia was a senior party leader, all our MLAs followed his order as a courtesy," he said.

The Congress leader further claimed that BJP is using both "muscle and money power" to influence Congress MLAs.

He also claimed that he is strongly in contact with 7-8 BJP MLAs.

On Tuesday, Congress sent two of its leaders -- Verma and Govind Singh -- to Bengaluru in order to pacify some of the rebel MLAs who are lodged in a hotel there and who claimed to have resigned from the state Legislative Assembly.

Most of the rebel MLAs are perceived close to Scindia and are apparently unhappy at Scindia being "ignored" in the party. The grand old party has been witnessing an internal turf war in Madhya Pradesh since the party formed the government in the state in 2018.

Scindia is likely to join BJP later today.

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