A landslide occurred in Brahmagiri Hills near Talacauvery in Kodagu district of Karnataka in the early hours of Thursday morning, sweeping away two houses and leaving four people, including a local temple priest, missing
The landslide took place after days of heavy rainfall in the Western Ghats region. Kodagu Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy confirmed that a National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) responded to calls made by residents near the affected area. "It is near Talacauvery but the road has a lot of landslides and the NDRF team is clearing the landslides on their way as they reach the spot," Annies Kanmani Joy told TNM.
The disaster response team reached the spot of the landslide on Thursday afternoon and are now coordinating search efforts.
The Deputy Commissioner confirmed that four persons, including a local temple priest, are missing after the landslide. "We know of four missing persons in the area including a temple priest," the DC added.
Visuals from the landslide near Talacauvery in Kodagu, Karnataka. Search efforts are underway to find four missing people - a local priest Narayana Achar and his family. pic.twitter.com/BwnSsjaUOy
— Prajwal (@prajwalmanipal) August 6, 2020
The missing priest is the chief priest of a temple in Talacauvery - Narayana Achar. His wife, brother and another person from the area are among the missing persons and rescue efforts are underway to search for them.
So far, one landslide has been reported in Brahmagiri Hills near Talacauvery. This region did not report landslides in the last two years. In 2018, landslides struck mostly in Somwarpet and Madikeri taluks of the district while landslides occurred in the district's southern part - in and around Virajpet taluk - in 2019. The disaster in 2018 left 18 people dead and more than 7,000 people displaced.
Earlier this week, the Indian Meteorological Department predicted rainfall in coastal and Malnad regions of Karnataka and attributed it to a monsoon trough.
Kutta village in Kodagu district's Virajpet taluk received the highest rainfall(389.5 mm) in the state in the last 24 hours. Heavy rainfall was reported in Virajpet and Madikeri taluks of the district with rainfall measuring between 115 to 204 mm.