Persistent heavy rainfall in coastal and Malnad (central) in Karnataka in the last 24 hours caused floods in many low-lying areas, resulting in widespread damage of crops and property. One man is confirmed to be dead in Mangaluru after a wall collapsed due to the heavy rains.
According to rainfall data maintained by the Karnataka State Disaster Monitoring Centre, Malnad as a whole received 367% excess rainfall for the period of 24 hours, between 8.30 am on Saturday and 8.30 am on Sunday. For the same duration, coastal Karnataka received excess rainfall of 793%. Kodi station in Udupi received the highest rainfall with 414.5 mm rainfall followed by Irodi station (in Udupi) at 411.2 mm of rainfall.
Manoj Rajan, Commissioner of the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), said heavy rainfall around midnight took place in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts. “There was some flooding in urban areas in Udupi where we have been pumping out water since morning. Similarly, there have been damages to houses in rural areas as well. We immediately responded to the situation and rushed one NDRF (National Disaster Relief Force) team from Dakshina Kannada district and another team from Mysuru has also been taken there. One helicopter has been kept on standby in case there is a need for rescue operations,” he told TNM.
Taluk-wise Udupi in Udupi district received the highest rainfall in the state in the last 24 hours with 399 mm rainfall, followed by Kapu (296 mm) and Karkala (293 mm) in the same district.
Sunil M Gavaskar, a meteorologist at the KSNDMC, said the condition will remain the same with the coastal and Malnad areas receiving heavy rainfall in the coming days as well.
“Till September 22 (Tuesday), this current conditions of active to vigorous rainfall will continue due to one low-pressure area formed over the north-east Bay of Bengal. The low-pressure area in the Bay of Bengal is pulling the moisture from the Arabian Sea, and that is why abundant moisture is hitting the west coast. So regions along the west coast, including neighbouring states, are receiving heavy to extremely heavy rains,” Gavaskar told TNM.
In its daily forecast, the Indian Meteorological Department has also warned that “heavy to very rainfall with isolated extremely heavy rainfall is very likely to occur over Coastal Karnataka and South Interior Karnataka”.
Among the districts, too, Udupi received rainfall of 197 mm (1541% excess) rainfall, followed by Dakshina Kannada at 135 mm (1142% excess) rainfall. The coastal Karnataka received excess rainfall throughout the past week.
As a whole, for the last seven days (September 14-20), Udupi (396 mm, 395%), Dakshina Kannada (283mm, 316%) and Uttara Kannada (115mm, 111%) — the three districts that form the coastal belt — have together received 212% excess rainfall.