Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said that 32 people have been killed in rain-related incidents in the recent past in the state. He said the state government will release Rs 500 crore to restore public infrastructure damaged in heavy rainfall and floods across Karnataka. "Five persons are still missing and more than 300 persons have been evacuated to safe places against the backdrop of landslides and floods," he added. Talking to reporters after holding a meeting with officials in Udupi, Chief Minister Bommai said 34 persons sustained injuries in the rain-related incidents, and 14 relief camps have been set up.
Over the last few days, the continuous heavy downpour has caused several landslides and flood-like situation in the coastal region of Karnataka. Due to this, schools also remained closed following government orders in areas with heavy downpour. However, a few of them reopened on July 13.
As rains continue to wreak havoc in several districts of Karnataka, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange warning in eight districts for the next 24 hours on July 13. It is the third consecutive orange warning for coastal regions in Karnataka. The orange warning indicates very heavy rainfall, of over 100 mm.
Coastal regions of Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada and Kodagu districts are likely to experience very heavy rainfall. The IMD has forecasted the orange warning to continue till the morning of July 15. Yellow warning has been issued for districts of Vijayapura, Bidar and Hassan. Meanwhile, the capital Bengaluru has remained largely unaffected due to the rain but light rain is expected.
Rivers have also reached their capacity due to the constant rain and inflow of dam water. People living along the Krishna river have been asked to vacate to safer areas because of water being let out of Yadgir's Basava Sagara dam into the river. Several monuments, including the famous Purandara Mantapa, along the Tungabhadra river in Hampi, are completely submerged after a large amount of water was released from the Tungabhadra dam.
Rainfall has damaged 355 hectares of agricultural and horticultural lands. In total, 1,062 houses were damaged in the three districts of Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada and Udupi, and 2,187 km of road has been washed away in these districts.
Karnataka has 330 km of sea shore. Though Rs 300 crore have been spent for prevention of sea erosion here, the problem still persists. "Our state will implement modern wave breaker technology implemented by the Kerala government. It will be implemented on a trial basis for 1 kilometre and later will be extended to the whole stretch," Chief Minister Bommai said.
With IANS inputs