Six persons, including a four-year-old boy, were killed in rain-related incidents across Karnataka on Thursday as the state continued to experience heavy rainfall, reported The News Minute.
In Shivamogga, four-year-old Mashood was killed in a wall collapse due to torrential rain on Thursday morning in Kondandur village in Theerthahalli taluk. In Kodagu district’s Madikeri, Ammava, a labourer, died after stepping on a live electrical wire that had fallen on the ground. Rescue operations in the district were also continuing, said IPS officer D Roopa on Twitter.
Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy announced that Rs 200 crore will be released to the rain-affected districts of Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Hassan, Shimoga, Chikkamagaluru and Uttara Kannada for relief measures, reported ANI.
Kumaraswamy met the director of Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre to review the situation in the districts on high alert and to monitor rescue operations, according to The News Minute. He also discussed with Air Force officers the possibility to carry out rescue operations on Friday. Kumaraswamy on Wednesday had met the collectors of the five districts on high alert.
Around 654 houses have been damaged so far and 666 people evacuated, reported The News Minute. “Relief camps have been set up in several areas of Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu,” said Sunil Gavaskar, a meteorologist at the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre. “We are expecting that the rains will recede from tomorrow.”
Normal life was affected in Sullia taluk of Dakshina Kannada as well as different parts of Kodagu and Shivamogga. Over the last 24 hours, Jalsuru in Sullia recorded the highest rainfall, receiving 221.5 mm. The highway between Sullia and Madikeri was shut as landslides were reported along the road, reported The News Minute.
While schools and colleges in Sullia were closed on Thursday and a holiday declared in Kodagu, it wasn’t the case in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, where educational institutions continued to function, reported The News Minute. All buses of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation from Bengaluru to Kerala have also been suspended due to rainfall and landslides in several areas.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President Dinesh Gundu Rao appealed to the Centre to help out the state with relief funds.
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