Dakshina Kannada and Udupi district authorities on Friday announced a holiday for all schools and colleges in the district over fears of a fresh bout of heavy rains in the area.
The announcement was first made by Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner Sasikanth Senthil and will apply for all schools and colleges in the district for Friday and Saturday.
Later, taking cognisance of the fact that rains had been predicted in Udupi too, the district administration declared a two-day holiday for schools in the district. Students who had already reached school were sent back after the holiday was confirmed.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had predicted "scattered heavy to very heavy rainfall" with "isolated extremely heavy" rains in the district, warning authorities to take action soon. The same warning was also issued for the South Konkan and Goa regions.
Officials at the Dakshina Kannada DC office confirmed that the decision was taken after heavy rains lashed the city and its surrounding areas in the night. 144mm rain was reported in Mangaluru, while 129 mm rainfall was reported in Bantwal and 124 mm in Puttur.
"The decision to declare a holiday has been taken in anticipation of heavy rains in the district. We received an alert from the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre that heavy rains are expected on Friday. We are also wary of what happened last week," said an official at Dakshina Kannada DC office.
A week ago, the onset of monsoon brought life in Mangaluru to a grinding halt after heavy rains inundated parts of the city. Three persons were confirmed dead and extensive damage was reported as trees and electric poles were uprooted in several areas, damaging parked vehicles.
Several residents took to social media to offer help to people left stranded by the rains.#Staysafekudla and #Mangalorerains were trending on social media as residents threw open their doors to accommodate strangers.